/ -^ 



//r.. 




The author (1898.) 



REMINISCENCES; 



OR 



Four Years in the Confederate Army. 



A History of the Experiences of the Private 

Soldier in Camf, Hospital, Prison, on the 

March, A^.D on the Battlefield. 



1 86 1 TO 1 86 J. 



Written by 



Published by 



JNO. WILL DYER. AMELIA W. DYER, 



EVANS VILLE, IND.: 

Kellkk Pkinting and Publishing Co. 

1898. 






ENTERED ACCORDING TO THE ACT OF CONGRESS, 
IN THE YEAR 1898, BY 

AMELIA W. DYER. 

IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS 
AT WASHINGTON, D. C. 



V 






COPY, _„^ 



TO THE AMERICAN SOLDIER, (WHO SO MANFULLY 
j^FOUGHT TO MAI1MTAIN HIS CONSTRUCTION OF THE 
PRINCIPLES OF FREE GOVERNMEN*^) , AND TO HIS 
POSTERITY; THAT THEY MAY EMULATE THE DEEDS 
OF THEIR PROGENITORS, AND GIVE ALL TO MAIN- 
TAIN EQUAL RIGHTS AND HUMAN LIBERTY AND 
KEEP OUR BELOVED COUNTRY IN THE FRONT RANK 
OF THE CHRISTIAN NATIONS OF THE WORLD; THIS 
WORK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED, 

JNO. W. DYER. 




The Author (1861.) 



INTRODUCTORY 



THOSE who have written the history of our Civil 
War have done a great work in perpetuating 
the heroic deeds of leading generals of both sides of 
the line, and the armies, divisions and brigades under 
tlieir ccirmand, and our country is pardonably proud of 
the r^'cord. 

But the great factor in this gigantic struggle — the 
soldier in the ranks — he who endured privation, cold, 
hunger and imprisonment, and faced death in the hospi- 
tal, on the bloody field and in all its shapes, who for sake 
of principle sacriliced even life to uphold convictions of 
right and made possible the fame of Lee, Jackson, John- 
ston, Grant, Sherman and McPherson, has had no gifted 
friend to record his acts of heroism and self-denial. 

For this r(^ason I write this book. Being only a pri- 
vate soldier, actuated by principle, for four long dismal 
years, my only aim waj>. to do my duty to the cause I had 
espoused along with thousands of other young men im- 
pelled by the same motive. 

My individual experience was varied and such as fell 
to the lot of the soldier, and all old soldiers who read 
this narrative will recognize the truth of the statements 
it contains. 

The r<»meu:brances of the great struggle will remain 
in th(i m(m.ories of tliose who fought the war while they 
live, but the coming generations will lose sight of all but 

I 



6 INTRODUCTORY. • 

the great leaders, and we of the ranks will pass into ob- 
livion. 1 hope, in a measure at least, to erect a monu- 
ment to my comrades in arms that may be seen and read 
by posterity, and thus encourage them to emulate the 
deeds of their auc(^stors and dare to do and die for lib- 
erty and courtry. 

In this narrative, in speaking of the private soldier, I 
include all from the Colonel down ; the men who endured 
the hardships and bore the brunt of the conflict. I use 
the first person singular in many instances, not to call at- 
tention to myself, but because my personal observations 
were easier to remember and only record similar deeds 
performed by hundreds of thousands of other men North 
and South whose experience was like mine. 

Of course, we of the South had more of this kind of 
experience than those of the North, but I am sure that my 
brother who wore the blue will not now begrudge us the 
credit to which we feel entitled. 

I write this from a Southern standpoint, but I can 
assure my brother who wore the blue that he will find 
nothing in these pages derogatory to the reputation of a 
brave and true soldier. By meeting with you on the field 
I learned that you could shoot as hard and stay as long 
as the best of them, and in your prison you did me many 
acts of kindness. Of course you had some among you 
who disregarded the amenities of humanity; so did we, 
and we know them, but between the true men of the 
armies the best of feeling prevailed, and when peace was 
declare! we quit fighting, and now thirty-three years 
afterward, we get together and an outsider can't tell 
which side we were on, and we wonder ourselves why we 
could not settle our differences without a fight. 

With this introduction I submit ''Reminiscences'- to 



INTRODUCTORY. j 

a generous reading public, asking for the most charitable 
criticism 

If they call up any pleasant memories to the old 
soldier, entertain, amuse and instruct the young and de- 
serve the plaudit ''well done'' from the general public, 
coupled with a substantial evidence of approval, I shall 
acknowledge myself deeply grateful and proud, and hap- 
py at the result. THE AUTHOR. 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER I. 



Causes leading to war — Action of Kentucky — Enlistment and 
march to Bowling Green — Formation of 1st Kentucky Regi- 
ment Cavalry — Rochester trip — In hospital at Nashville, 
Fort Donelson and Shiloh — Capture at Rogersville 13-28 

CHAPTER II. 

In prison at Columbia, Nashville and Camp Chase — The last 
dime and the pie.— Lackey and the big Sergeant — Colonel 
Moody— Maj. Frank Attila— Thos. F. Marshall— Political 
prisoners — Our friends the lice 29-43 

CHAPTER III. 

Exchange of prisoners — Cairo and the contrabands — From Cairo 
to Vicksburg — Wirt Adams' Mule Artillery — Ram Ar- 
kansas — Gen. Grant's ditch — On to Jackson — Gen. Tilgh- 
raan — Old '*Cit" and his melons 44-54 

CHAPTER IV. 

Jackson to Mobile — Fried Hallibut — Across Mobile Bay and 
on to Knoxville — The pumpkin supper — Gen. Breckenridge 
and the furlough — Off for home — Col. Adam Johnson at 
Trenton — Dabney's speech and what came of it — Capture of 
Steamer Hazel Dell — Clore and his mule — Capt. Fitzroy's 
famous order 55-64 

CHAPTER V. 

At home — Major Platter and his Cavalry — The negro's faithful 
devotion — My Old Black Mammy — Whit Mitchell — Casey- 
ville shelled by gunboat — Narrow escapes from capture — 
Winter time but too hot — By steamboat to Louisville and 
stay in the city — Andy Grainger — Can e Run — Serenade in 
Indiana — Governor Merriwether — Stanton Gaar — The ether 
party 65-80 



XO CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Start South — Close call in the city — Gen. Pegrara at Danville — 
Martial law in Louisville — Ford the ponds below the city — 
Uncle Billy Hardin — From Fair Grounds to Burksville — 
Adventures on the trip — Passed as a Government contractor 
and bought mules and sheep for the Union Army — Impres- 
sions of the country and people— Followed from Louisville 
by a company of soldiers — Cross Cumberland river — Scott's 
1st Louisiana Cavalry at Albany 81-92 

CHAPTER VII. 

Billy and Lumpki — Woolford's Cavalry — Captain Harper — 
"Tinker Dave" Beatty and Champ Ferguson — Picketing 
Cumberland river — Warning by a federal soldier — Lucky 
escape 93-103 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Bushwhackers — Fight at Loudon — Colonel Bird — Effort to help 
Morgan escape from Ohio — Fight at London, Big Hill, 
Richmond, Irvine, Dix River, Stanford and Hall's Gap — 
Crossing Cumberland river — Safe but threatened with starv- 
ation — Three days in the mountains with no rations — 
Wartburg— Blount County— The beegum and the sick 
wheat 104-118 

CHAPTER IX. 

Movements of the Armies — Burnside and Buckner — Battle of 
Chickamauga — Boils — Bragg at Missionary Ridge and 
Lookout Mountain 119-132 

CHAPTER X. 

Battle of Lookout — Missionary Ridge— The retreat —Capt. Jetf 
Rogers — Chickamauga station— Grayville — Ringgold Gap— 
Elajay trip— Capt. Wall and the pig — The Charleston 
races— Kilpatrick's charge at Tunnel Hill— Winter quarters 
at Dry Valley 133-158 

CHAPTER XL 

Making out payroll— Bob Waller as a singer— The Wilson hotel 
—The good people of Dry Valley— Bill Ellis and the bou- 
quet—Gen. Lyon's Discipline— Off for the front 159-164 



CONTENTS. 1 1 



CHAPTER XII. 



Drilling at Tunnel Hill— Picketing— Pursley's pork and what 
became of it— Optical illusion— Sherman's advance— Under 

artillery fire 165-171 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Tom Richards and his bugle— Dug Gap— Stone ammunition- 
Sharpshooters— Reinforcements— Good Lord, what men- 
Snake creek gap— Skirmishing in front of Resaca— Wound- 
ing of General Kilpatrick— Battle of Resaca— Estate admin- 
istered on— Picketing the Oostanaula— Fight at Calhoun— 
Retreat to Adairsville— A good chance lost— Saved by a 
thunderstorm— Uncle Johnny Vaughn— Fighting and fall- 
ing back — Scouting 172-209 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Around Cartersville—" Texas"— Cross the Etowah— Altoona 
gold diggings— Ackworth— Bob O'Nan and his mule— Cap- 
ture ordnance train — Saved again by a thunderstorm- 
Pine Mountain— Big Shanty— Death of Gen. Polk— A 
cowardly act— False alarm on Noce's creek— New Hope 
church— Kenesaw Mountain— Sent to hospital 210-232 

CHAPTER XV. 

Peach tree creek- Maj. McCauley killed— Deeatur—Nursing 
wounded- Jonesboro—Stoneman and McCook's raids- 
Capture of Stoneman— Griffith and old Prince— Virtue its 

own reward 233-242 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Removed to Americus— The Yankee spy— Andersonville— Con- 
dition of the prisoners— Gen. Grant's order— Capt. Wirz 
and his bloodhounds— The fire— Leading the choir— Orphan 
Brigade mounted— On the scout with Capt. Jack Brown- 
Attempt to capture train 243-2o7 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Gen. Williams placed under arrest— Sherman begins his march 
to the sea— Fight with Kilpatrick's cavalry— Don't tell 
mother I was shot in the back— Around Macon— Demorali- 
zation of Sherman's army— Fight with the foraging squad- 
Fight at Bethel church, Louisville, Ga.— Chasing Sherman- 
Headless animals— At Sister's ferry 258-273 



12 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEK XVIII. 

Sherman takes Havana — The fort and the oysters — Sherman 
starts through the Carolinas — Fight at the Saltcahatchie — 
Through Sherman's camp at night^ — Fights at Rivers Bridge, 
Beaufort, Barnwell, Midway, Barnburg, Grahamville and 
Pocataligo — Fighting around Columbia — Through the 
burning bridge 274-283 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Burning, of Columbia — Capt. Hawthorne and his gallant com- 
pany — The black flag — Fighting at Mt. Elam, Homesboro 
and Rockingham — Bentonville the last battle — Night scout 
through Sherman's camp — Gen. Williams and the North 
Carolinian — Appomattox — Meet President Davis at Greens- 
boro — His escort to Washington, Ga. — Charlotte, N. C, 
hear of assassination of Mr. Lincoln — The Confederate 
treasure divided — Mr. Davis leaves us — Paroled at Wash- 
ington, Ga. — Off for home — Marrietta corn pones — The 
Captain's kindness — Dalton to Chattanooga — The Provost 
Marshal and prison 284-301 

CHAPTER XX. 

The one armed Captain— On to Nashville — The Dutch Ser- 
geant and the oath — Ice lemonade, five cents a glass — The 
good-bye— "You can walk and you had better do it quick" — 
The Silver Spray — Land at Caseyville — Home again — The 
end 302-315 




Stars and stripes. 




Stars and Bars. 



REMINISCENCES 



CHAPTER I. 



AFTER the election of Mr. Lincoln to the Presidency 
in 1860, the ex( itement, which had been worked up 
in the presidential campaign increased from day to 
day, until all parts of the country and all the people of 
whatever trade, calling or profession became infected. 
The abol'tionist's of the North, encouraged by their suc- 
cess at th(» polls, went mad over their pet hobby and with 
the aid of 'TTncle Tom's Cabin," anti-slavery tracts, in- 
cendiary speeches and editorials, fired Northern senti- 
ment as, perhaps, never known before. 

On the other hand. Southern statesmen, smarting 
under defeat at the polls and their failure to secure rec- 
ognitioTi for slavery in the territories and to erect slave 
states by the will of the people of the states, used the 
same incendiary me^ans to fire the Southern heart to re- 
sist the encroachments of the party in power on the 
hitherto sacred principle of State Rights. 

The natural result of such earnest advocacy of prin- 
ciples so widely divergent could only mean war and after 
the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln both sides saw the inevi- 
table and both began to prepare for it. South Carolina 
raised the flag of secession soon to be followed by the 
other Southern States, except Kentucky. Maryland and 
Missouri. They being border states were not in a posi- 
tion to take any hasty action besides there was a strong 

2 



J. REMINISCENCES 

emancipation sentiment prevailing among the slave hold- 
ers of Kentucky. In fact, our own Henry Clay might be 
called the father of the emancipation idea, and it had 
long been a mattei^ of deep solicitude how to do justice to 
the owner and at the same time protect the negro. When 
a boy I have heard my father and other old men discuss 
the subject and it seemed to be their almost universal 
desire. And then the "Old Flag'' was dear to every Ken- 
tuckian's heart. Many were living throughout the State 
who had followed it to victory at New Orleans, in Mexico 
and the Black Hawk w ars and the tales told by these old 
soldiers had produced in the hearts of their descendants 
a reverence for the old flag, next only to their God. 

So great was the love for the Union by our leading 
men that many talked and worked against their convic- 
tions to keep Kentucky from seceding and used every en- 
deavor to act as mediator and prevent a collision between 
the antagonisti'* sections. In order to arrive at the sen- 
timent of the people an election was held at which the 
question was^, "Are you for the Union or State's Rights?'' 

Against the vote of nearly all my kinsmen and 
friends I voted for State's Rights, and as long as our re- 
public stands the proof that I was right (for once at least) 
will stand and that when we let go that principle our 
struv^ture will fall. 

Of course there was a large majority for the Union, 
but the people were soon to see that they had been hood- 
winked. Mr. Lincoln made his call for troops and Ken- 
tucky was called on for her allotment. This put a new 
face on affairs and instead of acting as peacemaker, as 
was supposed, Kentucky was to be forced to make war on 
her neighbors to whom she was bound by every tie of 
sympathy, interest and even consanguinity. The de- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 5 

mand for troops was refused but it became necessary to 
do sometliing to prove that we had the" right and the 
will to act fo:' ourselves in the matter — thus repudiating 
the decision at the polls and asserting plainly the doc- 
trine of State's Rights ; so a convention of the wise heads 
was called to meet at Frankfort, which after due delib- 
eration and great mental effort, promulgated the doc- 
trine of ''Armed ^Neutrality," and gave both sides warn- 
ing to keep their armed forces off Kentucky soil. This 
move was too ludicrous to command the notice, much less 
the respect, of either the North or the South and both 
proceeded iu. their preparations as if Kentucky was not 
known as a State. The fact is that a few men in the 
convention who eai'nestly desired to hold Kentucky, took 
advantage of the convention and railroaded the ordi- 
nance through before the other fellows knew how heavily 
it was lo&ded. 

Up to this time I had been a strong Union man, and 
did all I could to keep my young friends from enlisting 
in the Southern army, but as soon as I found that the 
hands of our State had been tied and realizing that an 
attempt to maintain the stand she had taken would bring 
two-fold disaster upon her, and that I would be forced 
to fight two foes instead of one and also realizing that 
the conflict was now irrepressible, I went where my 
sympathy and every interest I knew, impelled me and 
like thousands of other young men of the State, espoused 
the cause of the South. 

I, with about fifty other young men, enlisted at Sul- 
phur Springs, and elected Captain J. J. Barnett to ''over- 
see" us, agreeing to meet on the next Saturday at Buffalo 
City to start for the Sunny South. 

Well, we met and Captain Barnett was there. Our 



1 5 REMINISCENCES • 

mothers and fathers were there. Yes, our sweethearts 
were there, and if jou could have seen us you would have 
thought that we were there very much. How little did 
we anticipate the heart-burnings and yearnings left be- 
hind, and the trials which were ahead of us. 

Buoyant with vigorous manhood and ambition each 
one to set forth to do up his half-dozen Yankees and 
afraid the war would end before he got a chance to do it. 
Alas for our calculations. We were destined to get our 
ambition cooled and have more respect for the fighting 
qualities of the Yankee soldier. 

I well remember our triumphant march to Prince- 
ton. How the citizens along the route greeted us with 
cheers, eatables and tobacco pouches. How our captain 
made blood and thunder speeches, calculated to stir our 
patriotism and dismay the enemy. (I have sometimes 
thought that could Grant's army have heard one of those 
speeches it would have certainly fled in dismay.) But 
the opportunity never came, and our captain got disgust- 
ed and quit.) How we were welcomed at the old Prince- 
ton college by a small band of i)atriots drawn up in line 
and how in firing a salute my pistol burst, a part of it 
striking a comrade in the face, knocking him off his 
horse and drawing first blood. How^ Will Reasor's horse 
fell over the rosebush and got up with his rider in the 
saddle; how Miss Denny presented us with a flag and the 
patriotic speeches made on the occasion; how we went 
on to Hopkinsville and camped in Kicker's stable, where 
Tom Dyer led Matt Cristopher down the hatchway fifteen 
feet at one step, and how Hugh Bell kept us awake all 
night hunting for the man who "\e6. Christopher down 
stairs;-' how we marched in triumph to Bowling Green 
where we were organized with other companies into the 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 7 

First Kentucky regiment of cavalry witli Ben Hardin 
Helm as Colonel, and how right there we began to ex- 
perience some of the stern realities of a soldier's life. 

Company drill in the forenoon, regimental drill in 
the afternoon, brigade drill on Friday, inspection on Sat- 
urday, with sabre exercise between times, guard and 
fatigue duty to fill in our leisure hours, we found that sol- 
diering was anything but a frolic. And then our cooking 
had to be done, and such victuals as we did produce. 
Out of a thousand men we could trot out nine hundred 
goodi ?) cooks. Every one had his special line, but some- 
how they all settled on boiled beef and '^flap-jacks." 
Needless to saA' — especially to a doctor — that ere long 
we were but shadows of our former selves, and had our 
friends, the enemy, let us alone we would have certainly 
melted away. 

But they made a move on our left flank which called 
for a counter on our part, which necessitated a move on 
Rochester, Ky., by Breckinridge's brigade, now known 
as the Orphans, with Helm's regiment to the front. 

Standing on Walnut Ridge the spectator beheld a 
military display that for grandeur has never been sur- 
passed in the history of any country. Five thousand of 
Kentucky's noblest sons, in new uniforms and accoutre- 
ments, thoroughly drilled and filled with patriotic en- 
thusiasm, it was a sight for the "Gods." 

The first day's march was blessed with fine spring 
weather, and we camped at Russellville in the best of 
condition. This was Sunday. About ten o'clock that 
night one of the severest thunder storms I ever witnessed 
came up from the west and the rain came down in tor- 
rents. We had camped on a hillside covered with a 
dense growth of cedar and the droppings from the trees 



J 8 REMINISCENCES* 

were from two to three inclies deep on the ground. The 
Sibley tent of my "mess" was pitched in a little ravine 
and the water soon formed a lake above us. While we 
were asleep, dreaming of glory and home, the stakes 
above gave way and we gathered ourselves up at the foot 
of the hill very much surprised that we were alive, yet 
very thankful all the same. Well, to make a long story 
short, it rained Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 
it snowed, Friday, Saturday and Sunday it rained again. 
On the latter day we got back to Bowling Green the most 
forlorn, bedraggled set you ever saw and had not killed 
one single Yankee in the whole seven days. 

This campaign, however, was not barren of results. 
Immediately on our return measles broke out in camp 
and coupled with the recent exposure, produced extra 
fatalities. With sadness and gloom we buried over 
twelve hundred of our noble comrades. How sad to look 
on a dear friend and comrade suddenly cut down by in- 
sidious disease, all his hopes and aspirations w^recked^ 
and to carry his last message to "mother.'' Such has 
been the experience of every living soldier. God protect 
us from another like experience. 

Along in January, 1862, the Yankees began to get 
restless. Some of the boys thought they w^ere scared, 
but their actions proved otherwise. Grant and Oglesby 
went down to Belmont and got licked. We thought that 
ought to satisfy them, but as we found out afterward 
Grant never did have any sense anyhow. He wouldn't 
stay whipped. 

Finding that he could not force his way down the 
Mississippi river he concluded to try a flank movement. 
Being somewhat of a water dog and finding out that the 
force at Fort Henry was composed, mostly of "pedo bap- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. Iq 

tists," — as there was "much water there" — he concluded 
to try that route. He got there and immediately struck 
out for Fort Donelson to convert the boys there. Hav- 
ing been confirmed in the faith the boys held out a good 
while, and numbers of the missionaries handed in their 
checks, besides there were only a small number taken in, 
the majority preferring to run for it. 

But to go back a little. Soon after the return of our 
forces to Bowling Green from the Rochester campaign 
I was taken down with a severe case af jaundice and for 
two weeks was the sickest mortal that ever was sick. 
Came near handing in my resignation. 

When hostilities had begun all the convalescents 
and sick who could be moved were sent to Nashville hos- 
pitals, I among the lot. The weather was wet and cold 
and the exposure gave me pneumonia. For six weeks I 
hovered between life and death. Helpless and suffering, 
with no hope of recovery, I did not care to live. To one 
noble woman, under God, I owe my life today, Mrs E. M. 
Bruce — wife of our Confederate congressman — with 
numbers of other noble women of Nashville were daily 
visitors at the hospitals, risking their own lives and 
health in ministering comfort and consolation to the sick 
and dying and cheering the low spirited. One morning 
Mrs. Bruce came to the side of my cot and finding me so 
low spirited, began to talk to me of home and mother, 
as only a good woman can talk. Something in her voice 
attracted my attention and on looking up I saw the tears 
streaming down her cheeks. This was too much for me, 
and reaching out and taking her hand I had the biggest 
and best cry I ever had in my life. Right then I wanted 
to live and began to recover. John Ryle — who was born 
and raised right where Sturgis now stands — was lying 



20 REMINISCENCES 

on the cot next to me very sick with measles — the doctor 
expected he would die — and he began to improve at once. 
He afterward told me that he cried too and felt better 
right away. I was just able to walk about a little when 
Fort Donelson was captured, and with the other sick and 
convalescents I was moved back to Pulaski, Tenn. As 
usual, the weather was cold and wet and the exposure 
caused a relapse, and before I got well enough to travel 
I was sent back to Decatur, Ala., then to Courtland, then 
to Tuscumbia. Every move made was in bad weather 
and had the same effect on me. Under these circum- 
stances I was greatly discouraged, for it seemed that I 
was only to be a drawback and expense to the Confed- 
eracy. But spring finally settled down to business, and 
our regiment fell back to the bluffs opposite Florence, 
where I joined my company again. By staying indoors 
in bad weather I soon was able to do a little day duty. 

During the three months of 1862 just passed there 
had been some pretty stirring times and the boys had 
begun to cut their eye teeth. Mill Spring, Fort Henry 
and Fort Donelson had all fallen to the enemy. Gen- 
eral Zollicofer was killed and General Buckner was a 
prisoner. Nashville, our base of supplies for ordnance 
and other stores, was also gone from us. Kentucky and 
Tennessee, our best loved States, were in the enemy's 
hands. Our army had retreated below the Tennessee 
river without a general battle. The people of the South 
were clamorous and said hard things about General 
Johnston. . The soldiers were mad and ready to refuse to 
retreat further, and General Johnston had to do some- 
thing to restore confidence. 1 have always believed that 
left to manage matters himself he would have succeeded 
better. There is no doubt that he was hampered in his 




Gen. Ben Hardin Helm. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 21 

plans bv officious interference and was not entirely ready 
for the battle of Sliiloh. But he had to fight or run again. 
Buell's close proximity and evident intention to join 
(irant forced him to make battle before he had his own 
forces fully in hand and plans fully arranged. The des- 
perate nature of the venture required his personal atten- 
tion at all times and places which naturally exposed him 
to every danger of the field, and just when victory 
perched on his banners and he was about to see his fond- 
est hopes realized he was stricken down. I have always 
felt that we had one too many generals at Shiloh. With- 
out any disrespect to General Beauregard, who I know to 
be a gallant and competent officer, he was not suited to 
quick field work. His line was engineering, defense 
lines and fortifications. If Generals Cheatham, Breck- 
inridge or Claiborne had assumed command after Gen- 
eral Johnson fell, I feel sure his plans would have been 
carried out and Grant's army annihilated. But it was 
not to be. 

Buell intended to cross the river at Florence, and we 
had a skirmish with his advance on the morning of the 
first day of Shiloh, but finding the bluffs so well defended 
he changed his route, and by forced march crossed at Sa- 
vannah and had his army ready for the battle the next 
day. It is not generally known that Buell had more men 
with him than we had in our whole force, w^hich added to 
Grant's forces greatly outnumbered us. Besides, our 
men were worn out with fighting and want of sleep, and 
Buell's forces were all fresh men. It seems a wonder 
that they did not wipe Beauregard from off the face of 
the earth. I consider Shiloh the most desperately fought 
battle of the war and more destructive to life in propor- 
tion to numbers engaged than any other battle. The 



22 REMINISCENCES 

men on both sides were fighting mad and armed with 
short range guns. They got close together, fought in 
the open and shot to kill. At that time they scorned to 
get behind a tree or throw up breastworks, but it wasn't 
long till they learned some sense. 

A few days after the battle of Shiloh our regiment 
was ordered to destroy the bridge at Florence and retire 
to Bear creek. I happened to be the last to cross the 
bridge. I had left an old watch in Florence to be re- 
paired and on learning of the order I asked Colonel Helm 
for a pass to go after it. He first refused, as orders were 
imperative and time was limited. The old watch would 
not sell for twenty-five cents now, but was very valuable 
— to me — then, at least I so regarded it. The colonel at 
last yielded to my entreaties and wrote me a pass. When 
I arrived at the south end of the bridge I found it in 
charge of Captain Noel, who was preparing it for de- 
struction. The captain refused to honor my pass, and I 
threw it at him and made a dash for it. It was a great 
risk to take, as the captain told me afterward his im- 
pression was that I was trying to desert and he came 
near ordering his men to fire on me. But I got my watch, 
and when I got back to the bridge it was afire nearly half 
its length. I don't think Perkins (my horse) ever made 
better time than on that occasion. 

The Florence bridge was a tw^o-story structure with 
railroad track above the wagon road, built of Southern 
yellow pine. Loose cotton saturated with turpentine, 
pine faggots and other combustible material were placed 
among the braces on both sides from end to end. A 
horseman with lighted torch playing ^'bo^' with stick 
passing picket fence'' and the deed was done. This was 
the first job of the kind, of any consequence, that we had 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 23 

been called on to perform and we were a little awkward 
about it, but we got to be quite expert at the business and 
rather liked it. In fact, to this day I never see a wooden 
bridge that I do not find myself planning how to burn it 
quick and easy. 

Not yet being able for active duty, I was placed on 
courier duty to carry day dispatches from our regiment 
to General Beauregard and other places. I was sta- 
tioned at the crossing of two roads where there was a 
stage stand and postoffice called Cripple Deer. This was 
in Tishimingo county, Miss., and the innkeeper's name 
was Johnston. Lighter Vincent and George Thomas 
Smith, of Oldham county, Company B, were the night 
carriers at the same station. 

After the Shiloh battle Colonel Helm was promoted 
to brigadier general and given command of Breckin- 
ridge's infantry brigade. Colonel John Adams, of Mis- 
sissippi, was assigned to the command of our regiment. 
The colonel was a West Pointer, and somewhat foppish 
in his manners, and w^e resented his appointment. We 
all rejoiced in Colonel Helm's promotion but expected to 
be commanded by another Kentuckian; besides his ap- 
pearance and actions were so different from the plain old 
fashioned, fatherly Helm, that we were simply disgusted. 
As a sample of the feeling towards Colonel Adams, I will 
relate my first experience with him. 

When on his way from Corinth to take charge of 
our regiment he and an orderly stopped at our house for 
supper, and although it was only four miles to camp, he 
decided to spend the night with us, and took possession 
of the parlor and two bed rooms. One of the bedrooms 
was that of Mr. Johnston's two daughters, and they had 
to hunt other quarters. I didn't like this but Lighter 



24 REMINISCENCES * 

and George were both out with dispatches and I was 
outnumbered. He had supper served in the parlor on 
the marble-top center table and this, I thought, was real 
mean; but when he sent for me and wrote a dispatch 
announcing that he would take charge of the regiment 
at ten the next morning and ordered me to take it to 
camp at once, it was a little more than I could swallow, 
so I politely, but firmly, informed him that I would "see 
him in h — 11 first." He ordered his orderly to arrest me. 
I demanded his authority and held the door with two 
good pistols till the other two boys, who had just re- 
turned, came to my aid and the whole thing resulted in 
the colonel delivering his own dispatch. I fully expect- 
ed we all three would be court-martialed, but when we 
rejoined the regiment a few days after, the colonel was 
kind enough to exonerate us. I do not wish to discredit 
Colonel Adams, who was a gallant officer and proved his 
devotion afterward with his life's blood, but to show the 
animus of the Kentucky soldier at that stage of the war. 
Every man felt that the war was his own personal fight, 
and while he willingly acknowledged authority for the 
public good, he would not put up with any foolishness 
nor brook any exercise of individual superiority. The 
Kentucky troops possessed an individuality peculiar to 
themselves. No power on earth could ever convert them 
into a "machine" soldier. There was a close attachment 
between officers and men, so much so that in camp or on 
the field it was difficult to distinguish a difference. The 
officers confided their intentions and expectations to the 
men. They made them confidants, and to a great extent, 
advisors. For this reason every man had an intelligent 
understanding of the object to be attained and the means 
to be used in its attainment. The results proved the wis- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 2$ 

dom of this method and the value of an intelligent, patri- 
otic volunteer soldiery. Although 'orphaned' as it were, 
the Kentucky soldiers never once faltered in their duty, 
and even when the dark clouds of defeat lowered over 
the Confederacy they were true to themselves and their 
cause and only gave up when no more could be done. 

The battle of Shiloh was fought on the 6th and 7th of 
April, 1862. As is generally known the Confederate 
forces were victorious from the start and had the Union 
forces badly whipped, when General Johnston was killed 
and General Beauregard ordered a cessation of hostili- 
ties, giving Grant time to rally and reorganize his forces 
and General Lew Wallace (8,000 men) and General Buell 
(25,000 men) to bring their fresh men into action the next 
day. Johnston's total force, infantry, cavalry and artil 
lery, was 40,335; casualties April 6, 14,780, leaving for 
duty 25,555 to meet the enemy on the 7th. The official 
report gives: Grant's army engaged in the battle of 6th 
and 7th, 49,314; Buell on 7th, 21,579; a total of 70,893, to 
say nothing of the gunboats. Grant's loss on the 6th, 
11,220, leaves his army on the morning of the 7th, 59,673, 
and with which he attacked Beauregard's army of less 
than half his own forces. 

I have made this digression because there are num- 
bers who will i>robably read this and who have never 
known the facts connected with this battle. The figures 
above are taken from the official report and are authen- 
tic. I have previously stated that there were more cas 
ualties in this battle than any other in proportion to the 
number engaged, and I feel sure the official reports will 
sustain me. 

Soon after Shiloh (about April 15th), we learned that 
General Halleck had taken command at Pittsburg Laud- 



25 REMINISCENCES . 

ing and was preparing for a forward movement. He re- 
organized Grant's and Bell's forces and reinforcements 
from west of the Mississippi under General Pope, making 
a force of 85,000 men, which he put in motion against 
Beauregard, who had succeeded in recruiting his army 
up to 45,000 men of all arms. 

In the face of such overwhelming force, General 
Beauregard decided to retire to another base of opera- 
tions and succeeded so well in making his movei^ients 
that he was enabled to remove all his sick and wounded, 
all his stores of every kind, and, but for an accident to 
a bridge, causing the loss of one engine and seven cars, 
would have lost nothing by the move. With a small cav- 
alry force at the front he was able to cover his move- 
ments and force Halleck to approach Corinth by en- 
trenchments. The movement was started April 28th, 
and Corinth was occupied on May 29th. One month go- 
ing twenty miles, and but for the experience of Shiloh 
they perhaps would have accomplished the feat in one 
day. They could have done it. 

One of the amusing incidents of the war occurred 
here. General Halleck decided to storm our works with 
two regiments from each brigade with General Pope in 
command, and right gallanty did the general storm. 
Meeting with no resistance, he took "peaceable" posses- 
sion, but in order to bring hope to the Union and terror 
to the Confederacy, he issued his famous order "Head- 
quarters in the Saddle," in which he claimed the capture 
of 9,000 prisoners and all Beauregard's ordnance and 
quartermaster's stores and had our army utterly routed. 
But the general was a little mistaken. 

Soon after the evacuation of Corinth General Brax- 
ton Bragg was put in command of the Army of the Cum- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 2/ 

berland. The general was not handsome and not very 
friendly to Kentuckians, but he was like Grant in one 
respect, he would fight. He was also somewhat of a 
strategist, and before the enemy knew what he was about 
he had established himself in Middle Tennessee and was 
ready for business again. 

About the first of May our command was moved up 
to Lamb's Ferry on the Tennessee river, where it was 
crossed to the north side and sent out to capture a force 
which was guarding Hughey's bridge on the Nashville 
and Decatur railroad, and it was there the boys got their 
first real baptism. The enemy was entrenched behind 
the railroad fill, in houses and stables and were armed 
with long range guns, while we had to charge for a half- 
mile over open ground and were armed with shotguns 
of short range. But we took them in. Our loss was not 
great in numbers, but we lost an ofticer (Captain Noel) 
whose death brought sadness and gloom to the whole 
regiment. He was a brave and noble man, loved by all 
with whom he came in contact. A very sad accident 
occurred the next day by which Bob Hedges of our com- 
pany lost his life. He was guarding some prisoners and 
rested the butt of his gun on a stump. By some means 
the gun slipped oft' and in descending the hammer struck, 
exploded the charge and blew his brains out. We buried 
him in the graveyard at Rogersville, Ala. Bob was a 
good boy and good soldier and his untimely death 
brought sorrow to all his comrades. 

But the armies both North and South were very ac- 
tive and it was plain that the fun would soon begin in 
earnest. Both sides were playing for position and this 
caused frequent clashes between the detachments sent 
out as feelers. We heard of a small force of the enemy 



28 REMINISCENCES , 

at Athens, Ala., and started to take them in. In order to 
take them by surprise we marched in the night, halting in 
striking distance at three o'clock in the morning. We 
laid down to get a little sleep and when I woke in the 
morning was again in the grip of pneumonia. As the 
command had to move, ^Vill Gardiner was sent with me 
back inside the lines to a hospital. J could only ride a 
short distance when I would lie down. We were twelve 
hours going as many miles. AThen near camp we were 
captured by General Kegley, who had brought a forec 
from Pulaski to surprise our camp, and we were forced 
to dismount and march with the infantry five miles to 
camp, part of the way at a ''double quick." This about 
laid me out. Fortunately, for me, there were some 
Christian soldiers in General Negley's command. Colo- 
nel Starkweather, of the Seventh Pennsylvania, hap- 
pened around and realizing my condition, sent his sur- 
geon to see me. He prescribed a mustard poultice and 
hot blankets and this, I doubt not, saved my life. The 
next day I was put into an ambulance and taken to Col- 
umbia, Tenn., where I soon recovered sufficiently to walk 
about. 




Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston. 



CHAPTER II. 

WE were kept at Columbia about three weeks and 
treated kindly by our guards. We were allowed 
to go about on parole and the ladies of the town and 
country were allowed to visit us and supply us with 
strawberries, cream, cake and other delicacies, which 
we shared with our guards, securing tor ourselves many 
kindnesses which I am afraid would otherwise have not 
been extended. There is nothing so civilizing, human- 
izing and fraternizing, with soldiers, as good ''grub." 
Several incidents occurred while at Columbia which will 
bear relating. One day while out in town we met with 
a drunken soldier who began to abuse us in — well, not 
the choicest language — directing his remarks specially 
to Will Gardiner, who informed him that but for the fact 
of being a prisoner it would afford him great pleasure to 
teach him a lesson in good manners. Just when a row 
appeared inevitable, a guard appeared on the scene and 
told Gardiner to whale the drunken scoundrel and he 
should be protected. This settled the drunken soldier, 
who was, of course, a coward. 

Colonel Frank Wolford, of the First Kentucky Fed- 
eral Cavalry, visited us. The colonel knew my father 
and others of the old settlers of Union county, having 
met them before the war when in this part of the State 
on business. He discussed the cause of the war with us 
and insisted that it was not waged to free the negro, and 
3 



30 REMINISCENCES 

should it ever appear that such was the case, he would at 
once sheathe his sword and resign. (The colonel after- 
wards found 'it so and kept his word.) He advised us to 
take the oath and go home, but when I asked him if he 
would do so if situated like me, he replied, "I'll be d — d if 
I would." "Boys, I am proud of you as Kentuckians; 
don't do anything to disgrace yourselves and old Ken- 
tucky." 

We went down to the river, one day, to take a bath. 
We were on parole, but for our protection asked a Yan- 
kee soldier to accompany us. After enjoying our bath 
we lay down under a shade to enjoy a good rest. Then 
our Yankee friend gave us a great surprise by offering to 
desert and guide us through the lines to our friends. The 
temptation was great, and it took all our moral courage 
to resist it, but we did, and although we would have es- 
caped the trials and dangers of a prison life, I am glad 
we did not perjure ourselves to gain our liberty. 

But the armies were growing more active and the 
prisoners were sent to the rear. We were transferred 
from Columbia strawberries and cream to the Nashville 
penitentiary, corn bread and hydrant water. Three 

of us were locked in an eight-by-ten room, where through 
the ten of diamonds we could contemplate that portion of 
the outside world contained in the prison yard, moralize 
on "man's inhumanity to man," and envy the lot of the 
gentlemen in stripes who had the privilege of cutting 
stone for the State instead of harassing their minds 
about who should govern the country. Unlike Colum- 
bia, the visits of the ladies were denied us, and that we 
missed them greatly, goes without the saying. 

There was one good woman, however, who by her 
indomitable will and energy overcame all obstacles and 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. ^f 

secured permission to visit us, cheer us, and minister 
somewhat to our comfort. With her own means and 
such help as she could secure from the good people of 
Nashville, she would purchase clothing and give to the 
prisoners who needed it. Gardiner and I would only ac- 
cept a change of underclothing, but our cell-mate — a fel- 
low named Halliburton from somewhere in Tennessee — 
took a complete outfit, and she gave him a nice one. 
When he had put the suit on he looked right smart like 
a gentleman, and I have no doubt felt like one. I ant 
sure it must have been the best suit of clothes he had 
ever worn. When our benefactress had left and he had 
taken a little time to admire himself he asked the guard 
to call the officer of the day. went out and took the oath. 
Whew! but wasn't our friend mad on her next visit when 
she learned of his treachery. She could not find words 
to express her indignation. We were not allowed to 
write to our friends and acquaint them of our where- 
abouts and condition, and she did it for us. This good 
Samaritan, of whom I have been writing, w^as Mrs. Isa- 
bella Nicholson. From attluence, at the beginning of 
the war, she was reduced to almost want at its end. AlP 
her means had gone to aid and comfort the unfortunate 
Confederate soldier. At the close of the war Mrs. Nich- 
olson set out to recuperate her broken fortunes, and 
evinced the same energy and determination that had 
characterized her actions in days of trouble. Relying 
solely on her own exertions — her husband being an in- 
valid — she opened a boarding house in Nashville. 

The Confederate soldiers who had been the recip- 
ients of her kindness, when in the city, w^ould stop with 
her and recommend her to others going to Nashville. 
She soon had to secure a larger house. Time passed on. 



32 



REMINISCENCES 



business increased, prosperity continued to attend her 
and today the fine marble front Nicholson Hotel, in Nash 
yille, stands a grand monument to the energy and pluck 
of one little woman and the gratitude of hundreds of ex- 
Confederate soldiers who delight to call her mother. 
This is but one instance of the noble actions of the wom- 
en of the South. In hospital, on the battlefield, in the 
prison, under all kinds of circumstances they were ever 
present and ready to minister to the needs and comforts 
of the soldiers. 

I had seen ladies who had been brought up in afflu- 
ence and w^ealth and never before knew what it meant to 
toil, ploughing and hoeing in the fields in order to sup- 
port themselves and small children and provide some- 
thing for the fathers, husbands and sons at the front, 
and I never knew a hungry soldier to apply to them for 
relief that he failed to get it, even though the giving ex- 
hausted the small store of the donor. They simply trust- 
ed in God and did what they considered to be their duty. 
History fails to record another instance of fortitude, loy- 
alty and heroism such as displnyed by the women of the 
South. 

After about two weeks' stay at Nashville we were 
hustled off to Louisville and sent to the Medical College, 
on Fifth and Green streets. They did not let us stay 
at college long enough to graduate, hence w^e received 
no diploma. After two or three days at college, we were 
sent across the river and marched into the penitentiary 
at Jeffersonville, Ind. This seemed to be a mistake, as 
the gates had hardly closed on us before we were 
marched out again, put aboard of the cars and sent to 
Camp Chase at Columbus, Ohio. 

There were many incidents which occurred on our 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 33 

trip which were both amusing and exasperating. I tried 
to take things philosophically and get as little trouble 
as possible out of the circumstances; but Gardiner was 
irritable and restless under the restraint, which caused 
him much vexation, and gave me a good deal of amuse- 
ment. By some means we had secured a small pillow 
slip into which we had thrust our few extra belongings, 
and each had a blanket. In order to divide the load, one 
carried the blankets and the other the pillow. When we 
arrived at Louisville Gardiner decided to carry the pil- 
low, as it was the smallest bundle, and would attract the 
least attention. After leaving the cars we were marched 
under guard, up Broadway with an army of gutter-snipes 
at our heels. I had read of pandemonium, but had never 
realized before what it meant. They shouted after us, 
making all sorts of jokes at our expense, especially re- 
garding our supposed "horns and tails.'' Finally one 
more venturesome than the rest, pressed through the 
guard line and spying Gardiner's pillow gave it a jerk, at 
the same time yelling out, ''Hey, here's a fellow wid a 
whole sack full of rights." This made Gardiner furious, 
and if the boy had received the kick aimed at him, there 
would have been a boot-black funeral, sure. It made 
Gardiner so mad that he threw the pillow down and re- 
fused to carry it further, and if I had not picked it up we 
would have been without a change of underclothing. A 
little further up the street we came in front of a saloon, 
kept by a very large, greasy looking Dutch woman. 
AVhen she spied us she charged at us like a mad bull, cry- 
ing, "Keel 'em, keel 'em," broke through the guard line 
and with a long basting spoon, which she had in her 
hand, aimed a blow square at the top of Gardiner's head, 
intended to demolish him, and but for the interference 



34 



REMINISCENCES 



of one of the guard, who rallied in time to ward off the 
blow, there is no guessing what the result would have 
been. This added new fuel to Gardiner's fury, and with 
other like occurrences before we reached the college had 
him almost a fit subject for the straight jacket. 

We arrived at Indianapolis in the morning and quar- 
tered in the Union depot to wait our train to Columbus, 
which left some time in the afternoon. 

Large placards were posted in numerous places 
around the depot bearing the legend, ''Beware of pick- 
pockets." Now, I had just one little old silver dime 
which constituted the total wealth of the crowd, and the 
safety of which caused us no little trouble. We watched 
it with as much solicitude as a mother does her only 
child. Along towards noon we begun to feel hungry and 
there was no sign of rations. Fearing our dime would be 
stolen and feeling like eating something, we decided to 
invest it to the best advantage. Looking through the 
lunch stands, of which there were numbers in the depot, 
we decided on an apple pie. This pie turned out a de- 
lusion and a snare. It had a thick looking crust with 
four pieces of apple daintily placed on top, one on each 
cut. I passed over the dime and the Jew passed over 
the pie. Gardiner took a cut of it, and opening his mouth 
very wide in order to admit the pie nicely, brought his 
jaw^s together with a snap — there was nothing but a little 
baked wind between them — and with a look of blank 
astonishment and disgust turned to me with the remark, 
"John, we are sold.'^ We afterwards decided that the 
lunch-stand keepers were the pickpockets we were cau- 
tioned against. 

We arrived at last at our destination and were ush- 
ered into prison number three. There were three in- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 35 

closures each surrounded by a 16-foot plank wall, sur- 
mounted by a parapet on which the sentinels walked. 
Inside these inclosures there were rows of one-story box 
houses built thirty feet from the wall with a thirty-foot 
street between them. Fifteen feet from the prison wall 
a line was marked known as the ''dead line," which no 
one dared cross. Rations were brought into us in bulk 
and we distributed them ourselves. A Louisianian 
named Lackey and myself were selected to divide the 
rations in our prison and we succeeded in satisfying the 
boys and heard no complaints. Lackey was a very small 
man, but did not appear to appreciate it, as a conse- 
quence he afforded us a great deal of amusement. He 
would strut around and talk big, and always ready to 
tackle any one who crossed his path. Sergeant Evans, 
who brought in our rations every morning, was a very 
large man, six feet two and weighed about two hundred 
and eighty pounds. He was a good-natured, pleasant 
man, and I believe really felt sorry for us, and tried to 
treat us as well as he was allowed. Every morning 
Lackey would storm at him, ''cuss" him, and say all sorts 
of mean things to him, which the ''big sergeant," as we 
called Evans, seemed to be distressed at. Sometimes it 
looked like he and Lackey would come to blows. They 
reminded us very much of the actions of a Bantam and 
Shanghai rooster in the barnyard, and appeared to be at 
eternal enmity. But the scene changed when we were 
called out to be sent away. 1 hapi>ened to be near when 
Evans and Lackey bid each other good-bye and noticed 
the warm hand clasp and the tears as they streamed 
down the cheeks of both men. I knew then that, though 
enemies, these two men were dear to each other and felt 
that at that moment the recording angel took note of the 



36 



REMINISCENCES • 



emotions of their hearts and placed a credit to the ac- 
count of both. I have never heard from either of them 
since then, but feel sure that both have been true to 
themselves, their country and their fellow-man. 

When we arrived at Camp Chase there were but few- 
prisoners there, and we had quite a picnic. We were 
well fed, allowed the daily papers and outside the re- 
straint, were as well fixed as we could wish. Every- 
thing seemed to be going against our armies and our foes 
could afford to be generous. This, however, did not last 
long. Hostilities began in earnest, battles were fought 
and we knew, without being told, that our armies were 
victorious. Our rations were cut down, our newspapers 
were denied us and discipline drawn close. Soon our 
hopes were confirmed by the arrival of more prisoners, 
bringing us the news from the front. 

For some time after arriving at prison we were 
guarded by soldiers who had seen service at the front, 
and were convalescent from sickness or wounds. These 
men treated us fairly well most of the time, but along 
in August General E. Kirby Smith advanced into Ken- 
tucky with considerable force. When he reached Frank- 
fort the Federals became alarmed for the safety of Cin- 
cinnati, and hurried our old guard off to help defend it, 
replacing them with militia composed of old men and 
boys. They were the awkwardest, greenest looking lay- 
out I ever saw, and they were the meanest. 

Each seemed to think he ought to kill a rebel, and we 
had to keep our eyes on them at all times to save our 
lives. As it was, they shot several of our men. They 
would shoot down through the roof of our quarters at 
night while we were lying asleep, and we never knew 
when we saw the sun set that we w^ould live to see it rise 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 37 

again. Talk about the terrors of the battlefield; they 
are but pleasure compared T\ith our experience for the 
ten days during- which the militia guarded us. 

The soil at Camp Chase held numbers of small stones 
similar to iron bloom, of the size of a man's fist and small- 
er. In sweeping the streets we often exposed them and 
took the precaution to slyly pile them away under our 
quarters, and soon had a pretty good supply of stone am- 
munition, intended for defensive use, as we did not know 
what day they might attempt to massacre us. One day, 
a Yankee soldier who was in our prison for some act of 
insubordination and who was carrying a ball and chain, 
went too close to the "dead line," thinking his uniform 
would protect him, when he was shot down in his tracks. 
Instantly every fellow jumped to hi^? rock pile, and soon- 
er than I can tell it the parapet was cleared of guards. 
They marched in a squad of soldiers with loaded muskets 
and ordered every man who threw a rock to step tw^o 
paces to the front. Every man in prison stepped out 
promptly. When this was repeated with the same re- 
sult, the soldiers were about faced and marched out of 
the prison yard. Eight there we expected to have use 
for the balance of our rocks and had determined to use 
them. 

But our old guard returned and everything w^as se- 
rene. 

There were numbers of the leading citizens of Ken- 
tucky brought to our prison, among them Hon. John L. 
Helm, afterwards Governor of Kentucky; Judge Theo- 
dore Hallam, of Covington, Eev. Mr. Fisher, of Lexing- 
ton, and Thomas F. Marshall, the great Kentucky orator 
and wit. I remember when they brought Colonel Mar- 
shall in he was dusty and tousled from travel and pre- 



38 REMINISCENCES • 

sented anything but a prepossessing appearance. Our 
room being nearest the prison gate and the colonel being 
about half seas over, the guard shoved him in at our 
door as the quickest way to get rid of him. We rather 
resented this intrusion, and some of the boys were not 
very chary or choice in their remarks. Fortunately for 
me I, for once, kept my mouth shut. There was some- 
thing about the man that appeared, to me, above the com- 
mon, and I found my intuitions to be correct. After sit- 
ting for about an hour in an apparent stupor he suddenly 
turned to me with the remark that on his entrance he 
had sworn a solemn oath to drink no whisky while he 
stayed in prison. I answered that it was an easy oath 
to keep under the circumstances, and asked his name. 
^'Thomas F. Marshall," said he, '^generally known as 
Colonel Marshall, though Humphrey is really the only 
live colonel in the family — and I was put in here for burn- 
ing turnpikes. Say, boys, did you draw rations for me 
this morning?" Needless to say that Colonel Marshall 
was afterward treated with the greatest respect. The 
Colonel was quite a benefactor in a certain way. Some- 
times in the afternoon he would sit outside in the shade 
and entertain us from his inexhaustible fund of humor- 
ous jokes. At other times talk on literary and scientific 
subjects as only he could talk. We improvised a ros- 
trum out of a goods box on which he would stand and 
talk by the hour, listened to by every one in prison, and 
numbers of the Yankee officers and soldiers who came in- 
side to hear him. The Rev. Mr. Fisher would preach on 
Sunday evenings and his sermons had quite a political 
ring. Numbers of the Yankees would come in to hear 
him, and how he would score the Lincoln government, 
and the Northern people, generally, but they took it all 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 3q 

good naturedly. I have been told that Mr. Fisher was 
never "reconstructed" while he lived. 

The fortunes of war make many strange bedfellows. 
We had in our mess a Hungarian named Attilla — a lineal 
descendant of the famous Hungarian tyrant of history— 
who was drill master of McNairy's cavalry and captured 
at Fishing Creek, where General Zollicofer was killed 
and McNairy's battalion was stampeded. Attilla was 
an exile from his own land, one of Kossuth's soldiers in 
his struggle for Hungarian independence, and bore the 
battle scars to prove that he had seen service. One eye 
was out, his left leg and arm paralyzed by bullet wounds 
and altogether he did not present a very handsome ap- 
pearance, but w^as able to afford us a good deal of enter- 
tainment. Attilla was a fine swordsman and gave a few 
of us lessons in fencing, using wooden foils in our prac- 
tice. I was greatly interested and applied myself so ear- 
nestly that I became able to handle a very respectable 
"foil," on seeing which Attilla challenged me for a trial 
of skill, and thinking he only intended to give me a kind 
of advance lesson I accepted. We went out back of the 
house, in the shade, and as our play did not interest the 
other boys, w^e were left to ourselves. I noticed that At- 
tilla had a strange look and took his position with an 
alertness that the time and occasion hardly justified, 
but paid no attention to it at the time. In our practice 
it had been Attilla's custom to have me force the fighting, 
but on this occasion he took the initiative, and threw 
me on the defensive. During the first few minutes I 
made some very fine parries and succeeded in covering 
myself against cuts and thrusts which he w^as sure he 
would land. This so exasperated him that he went 
crazy. His one eye seemed to flash fire, his body to grow 



40 REMINISCENCES • 

taller and with a yell and an oath, in French, he rushed 
on me like a tornado. I dared not attempt to retreat, 
and I saw at once that I had to light for my life. How I 
ever succeded in parrying his lightning-like cuts and 
thrusts I can never tell, nor how this unequal fight would 
have ended but for a lucky, perhaps awkward and, I am 
sure, desperate stroke of mine which sent his foil flying 
from his hand. This seemed to restore his senses and 
ended the combat. He seemed only then to realize the 
situation, and taking my hand while the tears rolled 
down his old wrinkled cheeks, he said: "My God, John, 
I might have killed you. 1 was wild, and thought I was 
in a duel with my enemy. John, 1 love you and would 
not harm you for my own life. There is something in 
the way you handle your foil that reminds me of my 
most deadly enemy, and I find it influences me to that 
extent that I lose my self-control. We Avill not cross 
foils again.-' Under a promise of secrecy he told me his 
story, which was the old one of woman's trust and man's 
treachery. In a duel with the betrayer of his sister he 
had wounded his antagonist who in turn gave him the 
thrust which destroyed his eye. In the struggle for in- 
dependence his enemy had espoused the cause of Austria, 
and it was while making a desperate effort to get to his 
enemy, whom he recognized on the battlefield, that he 
was shot down. Poor Frank Attilla, born 'mid the strife 
and struggle for liberty, living to the music of the bat- 
tle's roar, it was fit that his last days should be passed in 
the field of strife. He had lived a soldier and thus he 
died. 

Camp Chase Avas located on a kind of table land with 
good drainage, which rendered it a healthy prison, and 
although there were thousands of prisoners confined 




Gen, S. B. Buckner. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 4 1 

there the mortality was at no time very great. We were 
free from any contagious diseases — while I was there — 
and were not even troubled greatly with itch or lice. 
There was one row of barracks in our prison occupied by 
a lot of ^Vest Mrginia mountaineers who became care- 
less and got lousy, thereby acquiring for their quarters 
the name of "louse row," against which the balance of the 
prison quarantined strictly, even to requiring them to 
draw rations from the other side of the commissary. 
One day after a heavy rain, on going outside we found 
one of these West Virginians picking the "gray backs" 
off his clothes and dropping them in a pool of water 
which had formed beside our quarters. He seemed to 
be enjoying himself as well as any boy who ever sailed a 
bark boat on a goose pond and it was funny to see about 
fifty great, big lice swimming, it seemed with almost hu- 
man intelligence, to get back to their old quarters. Talk 
about a flea being sharp; why, he isn't jacks tens to an 
army louse. Well, but we were mad. Just when we 
were going to mob the fellow, ''Big Sergeant'' came in 
and interceded for him. Lackey, as usual, came to the 
front, and would first ''cuss" the fellow and then "cuss" 
the sei'geant, then "vice versa," finally winding up by ac- 
cusing Lincoln of being the inventor of lice, itch and 
every other mean thing that beset us. The sergeant 
finally settled the matter by furnishing a new suit of 
clothes and a bar of soap, (we had sand and scissors), 
when the fellow was stripped, his hair cut close to the 
skin, he placed under the pump spout, and a constant 
stream turned on him while two men scrubbed him with 
soap and sand. As one "detail" would tire others would 
take their places, until at the end of an hour Lackey 
called a halt, had (he fellow dressed and carried to his 



42 



REMINISCENCES 



quarters more dead than alive, but cleaner than he had 
ever been since his first washing. What fools we were, 
as we afterwards found out. Before the close of the war 
there were none of us who did not feel lonesome with- 
out a good supply of '^gray backs," of approved size and 
branded C. S., properly distributed about his clothes; 
and then what unalloyed and exquisite pleasure we en- 
joyed in picking up a fine plump old fellow who had ven- 
tured to explore the outside world and crawled out on 
our necks. But Lackey was right, they were of Yankee 
invention, and I think this accounts for their shrewdness. 
And then the first installment was branded U. i^., but 
like a great many other things, such as arms, ammuni- 
tion, accoutrements, clothing, etc., and which we had to 
^^draw" from our friends, the enemy, change by re-brand- 
ing or re-dying to suit our purpose and maintain our 
claim of ^^belligerents" we were forced to adopt a new- 
design for their backs in order to protect them in their 
rights as well. We needed the munitions of war and 
were forced to take them where we could find them and 
could not afford to be squeamish about the company we 
were keeping. Like the farmer who reads his agricul- 
tural paper in which he finds long articles recommending 
some kind of cereal or grass and which he decides he 
must obtain — thinks he must have it, can't do without it 
— gets the seed and sows, and when reaping time comes 
he finds that his fondest expectations are realized, but at 
the same time he has introduced on his farm a noxious 
weed, not expected at the time, that will cause him 
many days of vexation and labor to eradicate. So it was 
with us and the lice, we didn't go after them, but we got 
them all the same. 

There was a mineral well — principally white sul- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. ^y 

phur — in our prison, the water from which I soon found, 
was good for me, and you may depend, I patronized it 
liberally. My health and strength improved steadily 
and it was but a few weeks 'till '^Richard was himself 
again," and in spite of the short rations (they cut us down 
after the seven days' battle before Richmond, in which 
General McLellan was defeated), T left the prison in 
splendid health, w^hich I enjoyed with one or two slight 
exceptions, to the end. In fact, I am thankful to this 
day I have not had a recurrence of the disease which in- 
valided me so long and came so near terminating my 
career. Under the circumstances, I suppose, I should 
have no quarrel with Camp Chase, but rather regard her 
from a "hygienic" standpoint, my alma mater. 




CHAPTER III. 



SOME of the readers of these "reminiscences" may 
grow impatient at the amount of space devoted to 
prison exi)erience and want to forge ahead to the 
more stirring events of the battlefield. To all such I 
wish to say that they cannot possibly be more impatient 
than I was during my enforced confinement. I have 
started out to give a history of my individual experience 
and thus write a history of the war. By some unaccount- 
able means that experience was varied, and as it covered 
a space of four years of army life in all its departments — 
camp, hospital, prison, cavalry, infantry and artillery — 
in order to do justice to the subject I must take up events 
as they transpired and record the occurrences in which 
the private soldier was most concerned. 

In February, 1802, the two governments arranged 
for an exchange of prisoners, and while we held an ex- 
cess, matters progressed to the apparent satisfaction of 
both parties concerned. But the fall of Forts Henry 
and Donelson gave the United States a large advantage 
in number of prisoners, and about the same time General 
Pope issued an order treating all rebel sympathizers 
within his lines as spies, and held numbers of peaceable 
citizens as hostages on which to retaliate should any of 
his men be killed by persons whom he styled bushwhack- 
ers. Our government remonstrated, and pending a set 
tlement of the dispute, we who had not been exchanged 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 45 

had to content ourselves in prison. In the meantime, 
Stonewall Jackson, Early and Ashby had been around 
to see the boys, and on the general round up it was dis- 
covered that we again had a majority, so on the 22d of 
July the exchange began again, on the terms of man for 
man and officer for officer of like rank to be forwarded 
as fast as possible and all in excess on either side to be 
paroled till their exchange could be effected. The near- 
est, of course, were first, and exchanged immediately, 
while those most distant got in later. Having better 
transportation facilities the North could make quicker 
deliver}^ than the South and for this reason w^e of Camp 
Chase were sent to parole camp to await till our ex- 
change was declared. Our prison was in charge of a 
Colonel Moody, the same Moody who commanded an Ohio 
regiment at the battle of Bull Eun, and who was the 
only man who beat Senator Lovejoy back to Washington 
on that memorable occasion. The colonel was also a 
Methodist preacher, and more a man of peace than war, 
hence he secured the soft job of corralling unarmed reb- 
els. The Colonel seldom ever showed himself inside the 
prison and only on important occasions. He was also 
very reticent and we could seldom draw him into conver- 
sation — in fact, he seemed to view us more as a comfor- 
table farmer would his herd of fat hogs than as human 
beings, so when he came to our door and said, ^'Please 
form in front of your quarters in marching order," we 
were completely dumbstruck. We were expecting noth- 
ing, and could not conjecture what his intentions were, 
and when his adjutant called out the names on his list 
with the order to step two paces to the front, and we 
found that some were not called, we did not know wheth- 
er they or we were the lucky ones. We were marched 
4 



46 REMINISCENCED 

over to No. 1, where all those to be exchanged were as- 
sembled and the others sent to the other stockades; in 
other words the sheep were separated from the goats, 
and this time I went to the right with the sheep. Why 
all were not included I could never imagine. Early in 
the afternoon we were marched out to the railroad and 
loaded on the train with four guards to each car and 
started Southward. We arrived at Cincinnati about 
sundown and were side-tracked for the night. By the 
way, they had hurried us off and forgot to provide us 
with rations, so we went to bed supperless and the next 
morning they hurried us off before time to draw rations. 
Our guards had been supplied before starting, but they 
forgot us. It did not matter much, as we had found out 
that we were bound for Dixie, and felt too good to get 
hungry. We were transferred to the Ohio i& Mississippi 
railroad which was then an extra broad gauge and the 
cars veritable rolling palaces. We arrived at Odin, 111., 
about noon, where we changed to the Illinois Central 
and long train of flat cars with boards running crosswise 
for seats. This was quite a come down, but it was Sep- 
tember and the weather pleasant, so there was no kicking 
done. We ran down to Centralia where we sidetracked 
to let the regular pass, which was due in about an hour. 
While there a lot of the boys jumped off the train and 
went up town. They had some money and bought all 
the whisky they could and passed it around to the boys 
on the train. Fortunately, there was not enough to go 
round more than once, and no one could get too much. 
Our guards aflSliated with us and did not try to restrain 
us, and they could have done nothing as we had them 
in our power. Several of the boys boldly walked off and 
were not halted. We all could have done so, but were 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 47 

being carried home and would rather ride than walk. 
Our train left Centralia about dark, and 1 think the en- 
gineer did his best to wreck us. He threw the throttle 
wide open and our train fairly flew. Wood was used to 
fire the engine. The fireman kept the blaze running out 
at the top of the smokestack at least half the time and 
the sparks and coals of fire fell on us thick as a snow^ 
storm, keeping us busy fighting fire and holding on to our 
seats. This lasted nearly all night and I don't think I 
ever had a more miserable experience for the same length 
of time, to say nothing of the burns received. 

We were hauled into Cairo the next morning, disem- 
barked and marched down to the levee, where I wit- 
nessed the, to me, most distressing sight I had ever be- 
held. Thousands of plantation negroes had been induced 
to leave their homes and come to Cairo to be freed and 
cared for by Uncle Sam. These poor, deluded creatures 
of all sizes, sexes and ages were huddled together on the 
levee, without shelter and but little, and in some cases, 
no food, and without any medical attention. They were 
dying by scores. I could but think, if some of our good 
Northern philanthropists could see these poor creatures 
and realize what their freedom was costing in human 
suffering and misery they would at least attempt to ac- 
complish the object in a more humane and Christianlike 
manner. After we had been marched around to the sat 
isfaction of our captors and the thousands of spectators 
who were on hand to gaze at and '^guy'' us, we were halt- 
ed in front of a pile of '^hard tack" and raw^ "sow bosom" 
dumped on the levee and invited to break ranks and draAv 
rations. As we had gone nearly forty-eight hours with 
nothing to eat, we did not wait for a second invitation, 
nor find fault with our bill of fare. 



48 



REMINISCENCES 



At Cairo we were joined by the prisoners from Camp 
Douglas, Rock Island and Camp Morton, which augment- 
ed our force to about six thousand men, all of whom were 
loaded on five ordinary steamboats and started down the 
river for Vicksburg, the port of exchange. This fleet of 
transports was convoyed by the gunboat Eastport and 
the ram Queen of the West. The Eastport was one of 
our gunboats captured, in an unfinished state, at Fort 
Henry and completed by the enemy. It was a kind of 
turtle back concern with port holes in the sides and cased 
with railroad iron. The ram. Queen of the West, was an 
ordinary little steamboat painted black, with heavy tim- 
bers and cotton bales around the deck, and boiler iron 
around the pilot house. She also had a nose or ram 
built of heavy timbers and shod with iron with w^hich to 
sink an antagonist. As a fighter she was not a success, 
but when it came to butting, she was immense. The 
Eastport drew eight feet, and as there was only seven 
feet of water on most of the bars we made slow progress, 
so slow that we were fourteen days making seven hun- 
dred miles. Gardiner and I took passage on the steamer 
Champion with twelve hundred other rebels, and as the 
state room accommodations were reserved for our guards 
we took up our quarters on the hurricane deck. By 
stretching a blanket across a hog chain we were enabled 
to provide very comfortable quarters. 

Late in the afternoon of the day on which we em- 
barked our fleet weighed anchor and started southward 
with the intention of running night and day until we 
reached Memphis — which was then considered the outer 
Federal line, although their fleet was as far South as 
Yicksburg — but after dark, when a few miles above Col- 
umbus, Ky., we were fired on from the shore, which 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. ^g 

caused us to cast anchor, lie over till morning, and there- 
after run only in daytime and under flag of truce. 

Our trip to Vicksburg was uneventful, as nothing oc- 
curred to break the monotony, further than pulling the 
gunboat over the bars and now and then catching a sight 
of Colonel Adam's cavalry and mule artillery as they 
would appear on shore. Colonel Adams' mule artillery 
was quite a novelty in modern warfare. It consisted of 
a number of small brass cannon of one and a half inch 
bore fixed on pack saddles, mounted on mules and used 
principally in capturing the transports plying the Mis- 
sissippi. The manner of their use was to turn the rear 
end of the mule toward the object, sight between the 
mule's ears, pull the lanyard and the cannon did the 
rest. Sometimes the mule objected to the noise and 
made it hot for the gunner, and then, again, if the flies 
were bad, it often proved disastrous to the mule, as his 
caudal appendage often happened to be in just the right 
position to get shot off. 

Active hostilities were suspended along the Missis- 
sippi during our trip South and with the exception of the 
fortifications along the route and the few sentries on 
guard over them, there were no signs of war to be seen 
until we neared Vicksburg and there only the fleet of 
Federal gun boats were to be seen as General Grant, had 
hid his army away somewhere in the woods and the 
crews of the gun boats w^ere kept out of sight. 

The Yazoo river empties into the Mississippi about 
twenty miles above Vicksburg and we noticed after pass- 
ing its mouth that the timber on both shores was badly 
torn up as if a hurricane with a liberal supply of light- 
ning had passed through it. We learned that this was 
caused by the shots from the fleet fired at the Confeder- 



50 REMINISCENCES . 

ate ram Arkansas as she made her famous run through 
the fleet out of the Yazoo. The exploit of the Arkansas 
is known as the most daring and brilliant naval feat ever 
performed. She was an ironclad steamer only one hun- 
dred feet long, mounting ten Parrett guns and carrying 
one hundred men, only one of whom (Captain Brown) 
had ever had any experience in naval warfare and yet this 
modest little craft on this occasion sunk one gunboat in 
the Yazoo and drove two others before her into the Mis- 
sissippi where she ran the gauntlet of the whole fleet, 
consisting of thirteen rams, gunboats and sloops of war 
and arrived at the wharf at Vicksburg with only the loss 
of five killed and four wounded and a few holes through 
her smokestack. I afterwards met Captain J. N. Brown, 
her commander, who was one of the w^ounded, and he 
told me that an eleven-inch shell had entered through 
one of the port holes, struck the end of one of the heavy 
timbers forming the casing, knocking it around out of 
place, causing all the casualties and but for this all would 
have escaped without a scratch. 

But the little craft left her mark on the enemy's 
boats, sinking one and putting some bad holes through 
more of them. Notably the Queen of the West — here- 
tofore spoken of as one of our convoys — and the Indian- 
ola which went up the Yazoo to meet her and which she 
drove out before her. 

The fortunes of war are changeable as the after his- 
tory of the two gunboats just named will show. These 
two boats under cover of darkness succeeded in passing 
our batteries and getting below Vicksburg. The Queen 
was sent up Red river with a fleet whose principal object 
as afterward appeared, was to steal cotton to which 
General Dick Taylor, objected so energetically that with 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 5 1 

a land battery of small guns at Fort DeRussy lie cap- 
tured the gentlemen and appropriated their boats. 

The Indianola operated on the Mississippi between 
Vieksburg and Port Hudson in connection with Grant's 
land forces to destroy the only communication we had 
between the East and West. General Taylor sent the 
Queen and another little boat named the Webb to attack 
her and if possible capture or sink her. This was a risky 
business as she was larger than the other boats together 
and carried a heavy armament but the two little fellows 
went at her, head on, and rammed her and kept ramming 
her till they rammed her to the bottom. The river at 
Vieksburg makes a short bend forming a peninsula some- 
w^hat the shape of a boot with the toe turned north. This 
point w^as heavily timbered which hid the city from view 
until the extreme end was reached. In order to get his 
fleet safely past our batteries, General Grant had cut a 
ditch across the point hoping that the current would 
pass through and wash a channel sufficiently large and 
deep to pass his boats but unfortunately for his plans 
the river fell and refused to rise leaving his ditch high 
and dry. We heard of "General Grant's canal" and 
were greatly amused on our arrival to find a very poorly 
dug ditch, about six feet wide and the same depth which 
we crossed on an ordinary pine plank about six inchea 
wide. We were marched to the ferry landing on the 
Louisiana shore w^here we found a little stern wheel 
steamer called the Paul Jones, to transfer us across the 
river. As I stepped on the wharf a boy of about twelve 
years of age came to my side, taking my hand he said, 
''mamma wants a half dozen of you to come to our house. 
If you have some friends you would like with you call 
them and 1 will show vou the wav." This was an un- 



52 REMINISCENCES 

expected welcome back to Dixie and we lost no time in 
accepting it. We were led to a large mansion which 
showed that it had been the house of peace, happiness 
and plenty, and we found that it was the city residence 
of a large planter and that he was then at the front with 
Lee's army ; had left home, wife and only son to do battle 
for his country. Already war had begun to tell on the 
doomed city and the luxuries the people had been ac- 
customed to were denied them, even common necessar- 
ies were growing scarce, but the spirit of the people never 
wavered and they were ready to bear their burden what- 
ever it might be. The enemy was able to run his gun- 
boats close in above the point and throw shells into the 
city, although the damage was less than one would ex- 
pect. We were given a room to sleep in, in which a ten- 
inch shell had exploded and found the pieces lying right 
where they had fallen and as our kind hostess requested 
us to not disturb them we left them as found. After a 
hearty supper good night's rest and good breakfast with 
wine accompaniments we bade our friends good-bye and 
reported to headquarters, took the train and pulled out 
for Jackson, Miss., where we arrived without delay a lit- 
tle surprised to find five of our boys and two guards, who 
had walked off our boat at Greenville, (when the boys got 
to the woods they captured their guards and took it afoot 
to the nearest railroad station leading to Jackson where 
they arrived several days ahead of us). The two guards 
were sent to Vicksburg and returned to their boat, so we 
got five men for two in that swap. 

Jackson, although the capital city, was a very unpre- 
tentious place, located on Pearl river, with a population 
of, perhaps, two thousand and built on a succession of 
hills and hollows and reminded me verv much of old Mor- 




Oapt, R W. Crabb. 



Was Ijoru near Charleston, Miss., September 25th, 1848. Joined General 
Price's army and did courier duty before he was fourteen years old, carry- 
ing dispatches between Generals Price, Taylor and Marmaduke, often 
passing through the Federal lines; was at the fall of Little Rock, in 
all subsequent battles west of the Mississippi river, and surrendered 
on Red river June 22, 1865. At the close of the war he went to 
Unioutown, Ky., where he married and has since been engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits. He was Stamp Deputy, United States Revenue Service, 
during Cleveland's last term, is a working member of the Christian 
church. Mayor of Uniontown, Commander of Adam Johnson Camp No. 
1008, United Confederate Vetemns, and an earnest frfend of the Confed- 
erate soldier. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 55 

ganfield. Ileiiei al Tilgliman commanded the post and en- 
deared himself to all of us by the kindness he showed 
us in doing everything possible for our comfort. He pro- 
Tided us with everything possible to make our short stay 
as pleasant as possible. A little incident occurred while 
we were there which showed the kind of a man the Gen- 
eral was and endeared him to us. An old farmer who 
had a large watermelon crop made two trips a day with 
wagons loaded with the fruit and as there was some 
money in our crowd he did a thriving business. At first 
his prices were reasonable and he was patronized liber- 
ally but in his greed, he began to advance prices and 
finally got them up so high that we could not reach them 
Our appetite for the luscious fruit had now whetted to the 
keenest edge and we were very indignant at the old man 
:and sorely disappointed besides, so we held a council of 
war and decided to report the matter to the General. T 
was chosen to head the delegation and on reporting the 
matter the General asked at what price he sold the first 
lot? On being answered twenty-five cents apiece he 
made this order: ''As the price of melons was twenty- 
five cents apiece at the beginning of the season and it 
being plain that there is no diminution in the supply or 
increase in the demand therefore I order that you tender 
the owner tw^enty-five cents apiece for such melons as you 
wish to purchase, and should the said dealer refuse the 
tender that you confiscate such melons as may best suit 
your purpose.'' Acting on this order we gathered around 
the old ^'Cit's" wagon and began to dicker with him in 
such a way as to disgust him and cause him to move on. 
The wagon had a drop hind gate and as the old man 
started up the hill I pulled the pins that held the gate 
^nd dumped the load into the street where it was soon 



54 REMINISCENCES 

taken in charge by the boys. When the old man saw his 
load leave him without a word, he drove on, and when he 
returned with another load that afternoon he had fixed 
his price at twenty-five cents, but he had also securely 
nailed up the hind gate of his wagon. 



CHAPTEK IV, 



AFTER a stay of ten days in Jackson the paroled men 
were forwarded to the different parole camps 
throughout the Confederacy, our contingent being sent 
to Knoxville, Tenn., where we reported to General John 
C. Breckenridge. 

Some of the experiences of the trip will bear relat- 
ing, as they tend to show the dark side of a soldier's life,, 
which was a kind of kaleidoscope and continually chang- 
ing. The light and the dark were mixed up promiscu- 
ously and it seemed at times that the dark was largely 
predominant. We had our pleasures and our pains, but 
we remember the pains only that they add to our ap- 
preciation of the pleasures. Through all the trials and 
hardships which w^e were called on to endure, we never 
failed to have our fun or kill a hog that attempted to bite 
us. Things might come and things might go, but the 
Confederate soldier was always ready for fun or fight. 

On arriving at Mobile, Gardiner and I, having a lit- 
tle money left of that sent to us at Camp Chase by the 
folks at home, started out to get a square meal and 
dropped into a restaurant where we found a very long 
printed bill of fare, with prices to match, and immedi- 
ately set our arithmetic to make our exchequer and ap- 
petite come to an agreement in which we at last suc- 
ceeded by ordering, alternately, everything on the bill. 
One of the items, ''fried Hallibut," excited our suspicion, 



56 REMINISCENCES 

as neither of ns had ever seen or heard of the dish be- 
fore and did not know whether it was fish, flesh or fowl. 
How^ever, when we were served with a square chunk of 
Hallibut, nearly as big as a brick and which we lost no 
time in devouring, we wanted to kick ouj'selves for order- 
ing anything else than fried nallibut. To this day I get 
hungry when I think of it. 

All was activity and bustle in Mobile, cotton com- 
presses running day and night and the docks lined with 
stevedores loading cotton on the small blockade run- 
ning sloops, of which there were several in port. There 
were no other signs of war than the few officers and sol- 
diers composing the provost guard of the city and they 
seemed to have nothing to do. Late in the afternoon a 
large steamer Ian led at the do''ks on which we took pass- 
age for the East side of the bay where a train was wait- 
ing to convey us to points further on. The trip across 
Mobile Bay was one of my enjoyable experiences. In or- 
der to get a good view I went to the hurricane deck where 
there was plenty of room and nothing to obstruct. As 
we steamed down the bay in the face of a gentle wind 
from the ocean, with the sun just disappearing behind 
the western hills and the surface of the water as smooth 
as glass, one of the boys struck up "Our Old Kentucky 
Home." Immediately every loice on the boat joined in 
the singing, and, although the old song is full of pathos 
and susceptible of great effects, and I have heard it sung 
many times under all sorts of circumstances, I have never 
known it sung with so much feeling and effect as on that 
occasion. Men, with the tears streaming down their 
cheeks, rushed into each others arms as brother to 
brother and I have often thought that heaven opened her 
gates and rejoiced at the sight. The captain, a grizzled 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 57 

old veteran, was standing on tlie roof, and, gulping down 
a sob, said to the pilot, ''ran her slow, Jim, don't land 
till the boYs get over this." 

Our party boarded the cars on the east side of the 
bay about dark and started on our journey to the front. 
Our route lav through Montgomery and Atlanta, but 
nothing occurred on the trip of any interest till we ar 
rived at Chattanooga. There was one defect in our trav- 
elling arrangements that had affected us in all our pre- 
vious trips and it stuck to us to the end. We were never 
provided with a lunch basket and no matter how long the 
journey, we starved it out. We arrived at Chattanooga, 
— two days out from Mobile— too late in the morning to 
get our name in the pot for rations and you may imagine 
that we were restless. All started out on a foraging ex- 
pedition and three of us extended our investigations to. 
the top of Lookout Mountain, where we discovered three 
green pumpkins about the size of a man's skull and as 
they were all alone among the weeds in an abandoned 
garden we lost no time in appropriating them. On ar- 
riving at camp we found that one of the boys had se- 
cured a small piece of bacon and having found an old 
broken kettle, which we managed to prop up so as to hold 
our stock we sliced pumpkin and bacon, dumped all in 
together in the kettle and boiled it until thoroughly 
mixed. We had no bread, but with wooden paddles we 
managed to make way with the mess and enjoyed it to the 
full with no bad results except a few of the boys were 
discovered dancing a quickstep before daylight next 
morning. 

From Chattanooga we were forwarded on to Knox- 
A^lle and reported to General Breckenridge who was then 
in command of the department of East Tennessee. When 



58 



REMINISCENCE6 



we had been in camp several days and there being no 
prospect of being returned to our regiment, five of us con- 
cluded that we would like to visit our homes and, al- 
though there were strict orders from Richmond to grant 
no furloughs, we decided to try anyhow. So I wrote out 
a hundred day leave for each of the five and took them 
to the General for approval. The General always treated 
his men as equals and then I had become quite well ac- 
quainted with him at Bowling Green, so I did not hesi- 
tate to present our requests. He received me kindly and 
said, "John, strict orders have been issued forbidding any 
department commander granting leave to any soldier, 
and leaves must be approved by the Secretary of War. 
I think there will be stirring times soon, when every man 
will be needed. The exchange is in a muddle and I be- 
lieve it is the intention of the Federal government to 
keep it in this shape until it has made its move, and it 
may be months before you can return to duty and you 
might as well be at home as here in camp but orders are 
imperative." I told the general that if he would approve 
our papers I thought I could get them through, and he, 
in order to accommodate me, placed his approval on all 
five of the documents, and I did get them through, but 
not through the regular channel. Armed with the docu- 
ments we five. Will Gardiner, Tom Dyer, Chap Stowers, 
Thomas Hagan, and I, marched down to the provost mar 
shal's ofiice, presented our furloughs and received trans- 
portation to Chattanooga, where we repeated the per- 
formance and were billed on to Murfreesboro and right 
here we struck a snag. We had played our game suc- 
cessfully thus far, but found General Forest, in charge 
of the outposts, and knowing him as we did, were afraid 
to try the game on him and also afraid to try to sneak 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 59 

through the lines. Fortunately the Yankees sent out a 
force from Nashville and attacked our forces at Lavergne 
which produced great excitement at Murfreesboro. Our 
party made a great show of hunting up arms and horses 
to go with Forest to the front until all the rest had gone 
when we very quietly walked out of town and took up 
our march for home. Our route lay through Lebanon, 
Gallatin, White Plains, Bell's Tavern, Tenn., and Tren- 
ton, Ky. At the latter place we found a party of Colonel 
Adam Johnson's regiment in camp and the most of them 
from Union county. The joy of our meeting was mutual 
and the boys did everything for our pleasure and comfort. 
They even went out and "pressed" a mount for us. For 
me they secured a little old "flea-bitten" gray mare about 
fifteen years old and not much bigger than I, but as old 
Burrell Johnson would say, "it beat walking," so I did 
not look the gift in the mouth, but mounted bareback, 
with a rope halter to guide my prancing steed and was 
again in the cavalry. The next morning after our ar- 
rival at Trenton the Yankees made a move on us and 
after a little skirmish wdth our pickets, brought up a 
small cannon and threw a few shells in our direction. I 
have noticed that a gentleman always does the polite 
thing and as all of Johnson's men were gentlemen they 
acknowledged the salute of the enemy, though the shell 
passed at least two hundred feet above their heads. Now 
some may think that two hundred feet was rather far 
to acknowledge a common courtesy, but I tell you that 
they were every one gentlemen and preferred to err on 
the side of good manners; and then I would say to all 
critics, "try it yourself and perhaps you will learn a les- 
son in politeness that you have never thought of." 

After exchanging compliments at Trenton both par- 



6o REMINISCENCES • 

ties withdrew and I am glad to say that not an "accident'^ 
happened during the ceremonies. The nearest approach 
to anything like one was narrowly escaped by Dabney 
Hancock. Dabney had climbed a leaning tree and was 
about twenty feet from the ground making one of the 
most patriotic speeches ever heard by his audience. 
When right in the very middle of one of his greatest 
flights of oratory ''boom" went the cannon and with, 
'^thar, by Gawd," Dabney dropped to the ground in a 
lump as if the shell had struck him. The boys all won- 
dered why he could not have stayed on the ground out 
of the way, but while they were deliberating whether to 
bury his body or leave it for the hogs to eat, Dabney 
pulled himself together, mounted his horse and except 
that he was very quiet afterward no one could have told 
that he had been hit. But Dabney has quit fighting, quit 
making public speeches and most of his other meanness; 
has joined the church, is living at home on his farm and 
raising up an interesting family, besides he never forgets 
to be on hand at voting time and do his duty as a good 
citizen. 

We moved from Trenton to Gordon Springs where 
we found the rest of Johnson's regiment in charge of the 
stores captured on the steamer Hazel Dell a few days be- 
fore at Caseyville. 

Colonel Johnson sent the stores South under an es- 
cort and disbanded his regiment in order that the men 
might return home and influence others to enlist. It 
was a kind of general recruiting service in which every 
man was a recruiting officer. The result was very satis- 
factory, as it enabled Colonel Johnson to organize the 
famous Tenth Kentucky cavalry, which afterwards made 
for itself an honorable reputation by its daring achieve- 






5m 






Theo, b. Clore, 

COMPANY C, TENTH KENTUCKY CAVALRY 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 6 1 

ments on both sides of the Ohio river. On their way 
home from Gordon Springs the Union county boys passed 
through Hopldnsville and while there supplied them- 
selves with two days' rations from the stores furnished 
by the citizens in sympathy with our cause. I had a cur- 
iosity to visit Ricker's livery stable again and renew old 
acquaintances. While exploring its inner recesses I 
found the skeleton of an old saddle and a few pieces of 
rope. I -lost no time in confiscating them and I don't 
think any one will blame me as I had been riding a rather 
thin mare for two days with only a thin pair of panta- 
loons between us and had a journey of fifty miles ahead. 
Really I did it as an act of mercy to the poor old beast, 
for I was certain that she suffered equally with me and 
with her it was compulsory, while I could walk if I didn't 
like it. But I strung up m^- old saddle-tree and put an 
old piece of carpet under it and ''old gray" trotted in 
home with me as glib as a four-year-old. 

From Hopkinsville we came on to Madisonville, 
w^here we found another "grub" depot to which we did 
am^jle justice and the next day went out to Shiloh church 
for dinner. 

We left John Brooks, Bud Holloman and about a 
dozen other Hopkins county boys in camp at Shiloh who 
were captured a couple of hours after we left by a squad 
of Yankees sent out from Henderson to intercept us. In 
the "scrimmage" John Brooks was wounded in the leg 
which, he afterwards told me, kept him from running 
away. 

About two o'clock that afternoon we encountered a 
very severe snow storm which in all probability kept 
the enemy from pursuing us and we arrived at old Cy- 
press church about eight o'clock at night where we dis- 
5 



52 REMINISCENCES 

banded, each one striking out on his own account and 
wherever possible, of course, going home. Having been 
absent for over a year I w^as very anxious to see the folks, 
and was willing to take any risks. From friends along 
the route I learned that Captain Fitzroy, who command- 
ed a gunboat anchored at Battery Kock, opposite Casey- 
ville, had issued an order levying twenty thousand dol- 
lars on the citizens living within a radius of ten miles as 
indemnity to the government for the stores captured by 
Colonel Johnson from the steamer Hazel Dell, and ''un- 
less the said twenty thousand dollars is paid to me by 

sundown on the inst., I will proceed to burn all the 

property of those living within the limit." No comment 
is necessary. No one believes that Captain Fitz. had au- 
thority for this order and every one knew that it was 
made to "feather his own nest." Unfortunately for the 
history of our late war there were too many such men 
as Captain Fitz. in the service and were patriotic for rev- 
enue only. I am glad to know that such "patriots" are 
now at a discount on both sides of the line. 

I arrived home about ten o'clock at night and found 
that one of our old neighbors — Mr. J. H. Wright, was in 
consultation with my father and not wishing to take any 
risks I put old gray in the stable and fed her. Mr. 
Wright took his departure about eleven with the under- 
standing that at the first sign of a blaze the old men 
were to meet and defend their homes as best they could. 
After Mr. Wright left I went to the front gate and hailed. 
My father jumped for his gun and with the remark "there 
they are Lauren (my mother), you and the children stay 
inside," the old gentleman came out on the porch and 
demanded, "who's there," I answered ^'a stranger who 
wishes to stop with you tonight," at the same time start- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



63 



ing to the door. But when he pulled the double-bar- 
reled ^'Betsey" down ou me I made myself known with- 
out delay. I will not undertake to describe the scene 
for the next few minutes, but when I told my father that 
Johnson's regiment was in the county and ready for Cap- 
tain Fitz. he exclaimed "thank God," and fainted away. 
For a few minutes, we thought he was dead, but he soon 
revived and the first question he asked was whether I 
was at home on leave or had deserted? I was very glad 
that I was able to produce my furlough, even if it wasn't 
regular. 

I remember a little episode in connection with the 
capture of the Hazel Dell, which has never appeared in 
history and is too good to be lost. In the spring of 1862 
Theodore Clore and Tom Pierson, with visions of wealth 
before their eyes, concluded that a crop of corn on the 
river bank would prove a regular bonanza. Neither of 
them were of legal age, but possessed will and energy 
enough to conquer all difficulties connected with river 
bottom farming. 

Possessing themselves of a mule apiece and secur- 
ing the necessary land they embarked in the undertaking 
and by hard work and many hardships at last succeeded 
in housing a good supply of the golden ears on the river 
bank convenient for quick and easy delivery. Just after 
they had completed their work, and while they were en- 
joying golden visions of the harvest they expected to 
reap, one of Uncle Sam's transports landed in at the 
corn pens, rigged a chute, loaded their corn on barges 
and left without saying as much as "by your leave." This 
w^as more than the boys could stand so they mounted 
their mules and joined the Confederate army. They 
joined Captain Wall's company which was then camped 



64 



REMINISCENCES 



in the Hazel Bend. The day after the capture of the 
Hazel Dell a regiment of soldiers came down from Shaw- 
neetown, landed at Caseyville and started on a scout in 
the country. It so happened that Clore had left some- 
thing at home and started back to get it. He reached the 
top of the hill a little before the Yankees and his mule 
had kicked up a big dust which led them to believe 
that the whole of Forest's force was on them. This 
caused a stampede and they never stopped till they got 
aboard their transport and crossed the river. It is only 
justice to say that Clore stampeded too, and was smart 
for doing it, but he kex)t fooling with Yankees till they 
caught him over in Ohio with General Morgan, after 
which they furnished him free board and lodging till the 
end of the war. Since the war he has confined himself 
principally to the drug business and voting the demo- 
cratic ticket. He is married to a good woman who thinks, 
him young and handsome. 




CHAPTER V. 

IT was in the first dajs of November, 1863 that we ar- 
rived at home and for about a month we had a good 
time visiting our friends and enjoying the good eating 
they gave us, but when Colonel Johnson gathered his 
men up and carried them South the county was imme- 
diately stocked with ^'blue coats." Major Platter, com- 
manding a battalion of cavalry, appeared on the scene 
and scattered his men all over the country. As there 
was no force o oppose them; they, like the old negro's 
hog, made themselves ^'promiscuous," and we had to 
"hide out." We slept in the woods, under old straw 
stacks, in the cabin with the negroes — any where that ap- 
peared safe and with assistance of white and colored 
friends we kept oat of their clutches. And right here I 
want to say a word for the benefit of some of our North- 
ern friends who were so badly worked up over the con- 
dition of the negro in slaA^ery days and as one who speaks 
from actual and life long experience, ask them, even 
now, to "hands off" and let the Southern people — the 
only true and interested friend of the negro — work out 
the problem of the position that he is destined to occupy 
in our citizenship. My father owned three negro men 
and one woman — Ransom (Sam), Spence, Henry and La- 
vina. My father and Ransom were raised up boys to- 
gether by grandfather, and Henry — a nephew of Ran- 
som — and I grew up together. My father had purchased 



66 REMINISCENCES 

Spencer and Lavina when I was small. The older negro 
men exercised the same authority over me, as to my mor- 
al conduct, that my father did and old Sam has used the 
switch on me often when I needed correction and I never 
''squealed" for 1 knew I would get another from father. 
The old negroes took as much interest in us as our par- 
ents and Henry and I shared our pleasures and troubles 
as if there was no difference in the color of our skin. 
When I come to speak of my "old black mammy'' — God 
bless her old soul — words fail me. She rejoiced with me 
in my pleasures, wept at my sorrows, nursed me when 
sick, with as much tenderness as my mother; spanked me 
when I got too smart and soothed my wounded feelings 
with the most delicious ''cookies" the Gods ever tasted. 
She knew how to chasten without leaving a sting. And 
thus is was all over the South. My experience is repeat- 
ed in every household where families were brought up 
together. The loyalty of the old slaves to the defence- 
less women and children of the South will ever stand out 
as one of the grandest monuments to the colored race 
and to the kind and Christian training which made it 
possible. Although "freedom is sweet" and Mr. Lincoln 
had proclaimed their freedom the negroes of the South, 
with but few exceptions, stayed faithfully with "ole mis- 
sus," and the children to the end and many even then, 
refused to sever the ties that had bound them so long. 
Old Spence was one of these, and, although he was hunt- 
ed by the soldiers and often had to sleep in the woods 
to escape capture, he stayed faithful to the end and when 
I reached home after the war he was there to give me as 
warm a greeting as any of the rest. Faithful old friend, 
he died September, '65, and lies buried in the family 
graveyard alongside those of the family who had gone 



BY A PRIVATE SOIiDIER. 67 

before and my father and mother who have followed on. 
One family in life — one in death. 

How changed the feelings of the two races now. 
Mistaken philanthropy and political ambition have 
worked together to destroy all the old ties of love and 
confidence which bound them to each other and they are 
drifting farther apart every day. In the natural order 
of events, the negro will have to go, because his pre- 
tended friends do not understand him and his true 
friends are powerless to aid him. The negro is naturally 
a confiding mortal and experience has shown that he has 
been unfortunate in his confidences. He could have been 
elevated and brought up to his proper place as a citizen 
worthy of the name but he has been duped by false 
friends to such an extent that there seems now no hope 
for his future. I am sorry that it is so, for all my sym- 
pathy is with him. 

We had another friend who played a very important 
part during our stay at home. Whit Mitchell was one 
of the old settlers of our neighborhood. He was an out- 
spoken secessionist, but on account of his warm personal 
friendship with the local authorities he managed to es- 
cape arrest where others would have been taken in. Mr. 
Mitchell would stand picket for us and keep posted on 
the movements of the Yankees and supplied us with 
"grub" when we had to camp out. He was my friend 
from boyhood up and no one is prouder of it than I. He 
is one of nature's noblemen and a true Kentuckian of the 
old breed. Clore and I paid him and his good wife a visit 
a few weeks ago and found them the same happy, cheer- 
ful couple that I remember fort}' years ago. During a 
married life of nearly fifty years they have always had 
enough- and never craved more; lived for each other and 



58 REMINISCENCES 

done all the good they could for their fellow man. They 
are now in the sunset waiting patiently for the Master's 
call, ready when it comes. A few more years and they 
will cross over the dark river, but they will still live in 
the hearts of the friends left behind. May God give them 
a blessed inheritance. 

A few of us started into Caseyville one night, but 
found every approach guarded by the citizens of the 
town, who were compelled to do so by the Yankees. We 
did not want to give our friends any trouble and aban- 
doned our move, but could not leave without having a 
little fun. We found some fire on top of the hill, each 
took a chunk, and, scattering out, waved it vigorously. 
The gunboat anchored off Battery Rock began to throw 
shells at us with such poor marksmanship that they 
struck and burst almost anywhere, one lodging in the 
cornice of a store house in town and most of the others 
falling near the Davis mines, a mile from town. We re- 
gretted having started the racket on account of the dan- 
ger to innocent people, and withdrew; but this did not 
end it as they kept it up all night. 

Platter's men whooped us up pretty lively and would 
have caught Tom Dyer and n^e on one occasion but for 
the warning and presence of mind of two negroes. One 
of them, Phil, ran two miles across the woods to warn 
us and as we started out the back way Aunt Sophy 
pushed us back just in time to avoid being seen by the 
Yankees, who had come in sight. As they disappeared 
around a bend in the road we took to the woods and were 
not in the house wiien they searched for us. The same 
party went out that trip and captured WiW Reaser, who 
was laid up at home with rheumatism. At another time 
thev surrounded three of us at Mrs. Bruce's, near Mor- 




Oapt. Frank M. Kuykendall. 



Enlisted at the outbreak of the war in Cominiiiy I. First Kentucky Cavalry. 
Mustered out in September, 1862, and re-enlist€d as First Lieutenant Company A, 
Tenth Kentucky Cavalry, (the company was commanded by his brother William, 
better known as the '"Red Fox") : was captuied in Ohio with Gen. John Morgan. 
and imprisoned on Johnson's Island until the close of the war. Since the war he 
has turned his attention to farming and stock raising,, at which he has been quit*' 
successful. Mr. Kuykendall is now keeping hotel at Sturgis, Ky., and he greatly 
enjoys the society of the old Confederate .soldiers, and is never so happy as when he 
can contribute to their comfort and happiness. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



69 



ganfield, but we succeeded in hiding so well that they 
failed to find us, but took two of our horses — luckily they 
left mine. George Staples and I had stopped for the 
night at David Berry's and about 1 o'clock awoke to find 
the house surrounded by the enemy. We thought our 
time had come, but dressed and in the darkness walked 
boldly out through their lines and they did not notice 
us, and again a negro assisted us by going to the stables 
ahead of the soldiers and turning oar horses out in the 
field, besides hiding our saddles and bridles. Matters 
were closing dowm so tight that we thought it best to 
scatter and every fellow looked after his own interest, so 
I went to Uniontown at night, boarded a boat, assumed 
the name of W. J. Mason and made my way to Louis- 
ville, where I arrived safely and without any special ad- 
Tenture. 

There was quite a number of Federal officers and sol- 
diers on the boat to whom I made myself agreeable by fa- 
Torable comment on their bravery, allowing them to beat 
me playing '^seven up" for the drinks and other little 
•courtesies too numerous to mention, by which I contract- 
ed a habit of lying that stuck to me till I got back to the 
Confederacy and required considerable effort to rid my- 
self of. St. Paul says ^'it is not always best to tell the 
truth," so I felt that I had good authority, and then I 
wasn't around advertising my record. On this trip I 
made the acquaintance of Captain Rogers, of a Missis- 
sippi regiment, who was in the same fix as I. He was a 
native Kentuckian, a good fellow and as sharp as a tack. 
How we found each other out all Confederate soldiers 
will know and I cannot explain to others. He was a jolly 
good fellow, an elegant gentleman and was quite a help 
to me in getting started right in the city. We took a 



70 REMINISCENCES 

room at the Louisville Hotel which was pretty well filled 
with Yankee officers on leave of absence and they were 
making things "hum.-' It might be supposed that we 
had gone into rather dangerous quarters, but we were 
safer there than we would have been anywhere else as 
strangers. The shoulder strapped gentlemen were too 
occupied with drinking, gambling, "gassing'^ and other- 
wise enjoying themselves to pay any attention to a c. 
vilian, and as we appeared to belong to the farming class 
and noncombatants, our presence was ignored. Captain 
Kogers had a brother who was a Captain in the quarter- 
master's department at Louisville, to whom he wrote, 
giving notice of his arrival and his address. In a few 
hours Captain Eogers No. 2 called on us and proved to be 
all that we could wish. By next morning he had secured 
us a private boarding house and we moved out on Fifth 
street between Walnut and Chestnut to the home of 
Mrs. Captain Stewart, who was the widow of an old Ohio 
river steamboat Captain who had commanded such boats 
as the Northerner, Southerner, and other boats in the 
Louisville and New Orleans trade before the war. Mrs. 
Stewart was a sister of Mrs. James Bridgeford and Mrs. 
Lightcap. All had from two to four grown daughters 
apiece and at their suggestion I passed as "cousin John 
from the country," and to say that my two weeks' stay 
with them was one of the j)l^asantest experiences of my 
life w^ould but feebly express it. They were of the lead- 
ing families and strong sympathizers, yet managed to 
keep on good terms with the authorities and out of trou- 
ble. Colonel Fontaine, who was acting proA^ost Marshall 
of the city, had a beautiful daughter who was a great 
friend of our folks and the visiting back and forth was 
frequent. The ladies would go about the city shopping 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 71 

aDd calling and usually had ''Cousin John" with thenu 
On several occasions we would stop in Colonel Fontaine's 
office and, while I felt a little spotted, I was never sus- 
Ijected, and it was on one of these visits that 1 gained 
information which saved me from capture and put me 
on my way to Dixie. The office of Mr. J. J. Johnson who 
kept a wholesale store on Sixth street, between Main 
and Market, was headquarters for Southern "under- 
ground" news and as there were daily arrivals we kept 
pretty well posted on movements at the front. I visited 
Mr. Johnson nearly every day and often met some new 
arrival who had worked his way through. By taking the 
experience of all of them I w^as able to formulate a plan 
by which I eventually succeeded in reaching our army 
safely; but, as will be shown hereafter, at great risks. I 
had several ''close calls" while in the city and I often 
wonder, now, how it was that T escaped arrest. I sup- 
pose it may be attributed to my — apparent — indifference 
and reckless fear of danger. I say '^apparent" for it 
was by no means real as I knew that, once suspected, it 
would be easy to arrest me and find out my true name 
and occupation when up John would go as a spy. I had 
many acquaintances in the city who were good Union 
men and although noncombatants would have felt they 
were only doing their duty to their country by helping to 
convict me and would have waived previous friendship 
and seen me ignominiously shot, with sorrow, no doubt, 
but with easy conscience. I kept an eye ahead and stu- 
diously avoided these old time friends and acquaintances. 
When I went out in the city alone I carried a bundle of 
"officially" folded papers (blank, but officially indorsed 
across the back in hieroglyphics that a Sanscrit professor 
could not decipher, this was the style in the army and 



^2 REMINISCENCES 

rushed along as if in a hurry looking neither to the right 
nor to the left, darting into some door when I saw danger 
ahead and making some excuse to staj^ till the danger 
had passed, then out and on at the same gait till I ar- 
rived at my destination; by which I allayed suspicion and 
avoided arrest. The provost guards were always look- 
ing for suspects and there w^as hardly a day passed that 
one or more were not arrested and usually they got the 
right man. One morning as I had crossed Market on 
Third street I saw a squad of soldiers coming up Market 
at a double quick and as I reached the corner a young 
man turned it in a hurry and walked along by my side at 
the same gait I was going. The soldiers gained on us 
and when in a few } ards called ''halt." We kept on and 
the next command was "halt or we will shoot." The 
young man turned to me and asked "are they halting us?" 
I pretended not to hear him and kept on; he stopped to 
investigate and got caught. I was still in luck. If I had 
done as he did and he as I, he would have been the lucky 
one. 

Sometimes I would go with my cousins to the Jour- 
nal office and take a peep at the old lion, George D. Pren- 
tice. The old man was uncompromising in his Union 
sentiments and had the battle been a pen fight, the con- 
federacy would not have lasted as long as a June frost. 
1 don't want my old Confederate readers to judge me too 
harshly when I tell them how, when Prentice would 
write one of his most caustic and bitter editorials de- 
nouncing Jeff Davis, Toombs, Lee, Johnson and every- 
'bodj else, winding up with a special invective against his 
son Clarence (who was with General Morgan), with Miss 
Fontaine, T would go to her father's office and in the 
presence of the Colonels, Captains and Lieutenants, com- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 7^ 

ment ou and iudorse them with as much enthusiasm as 
the most loyal among them. But a change came over the 
old editor's dreams. Blood is thicker than water and 
human nature is human nature everywhere. Clarence 
was his mother's pet and although a wild boy he still 
turned to his magnet as the needle to the pole. Despite 
the opposition of his father he cast his lot with the South 
and left home with the blessing of his mother. After 
two years of gallant service he obtained a leave and made 
his w^ay to the city. As everybody knew him, he stole 
in under cover of darkness and went to a friend who kept 
a livery stable who took him in and secreted him in his 
hayloft. Young Prentice had one bosom friend who had 
grown up with him, shared all his joys and sorrows and 
escapades, and he felt sure that he could look to him and 
him only, in all the city for safety. Under this impres- 
sion young Prentice wrote his friend his address and in- 
vited him to call. When his friend called he had a 
squad of soldiers with him, arrested Clarence, sent him to 
prison and even denied him the privilege of seeing his 
mother. They even denied the request of his father for 
a parole. I would like to have the editorial which ap- 
peared in the Journal next morning. Of all the speci- 
mens of anger, vituperation, sarcasm and brilliant de- 
fiance, it was the masterpiece of anything I have ever 
seen in print. It portrayed the inw^ard feelings of the 
father and the man in language which w^as impossible 
from any other man, and while the Journal continued to 
espouse the cause of the Union, its editorial columns 
never glowed with the same fiery patriotism which had 
heretofore distinguished it. There would have been an 
open rupture with the government but for the fact that 



74 REMINISCENCES 

• 

Mr. Prentice was financially unable to conduct the paper 
on his own account. 

Going down town one day just after dinner, on turn- 
ing the corner of Fifth and Green, I came face to face 
with Andy Grainger. Andy went out in our company, 
but at the reorganization of the regiment at Chattanooga- 
in the fall of 1862 he declined to re-enlist and went home. 
T did not know whether to trust him or not but deter- 
mined to try, as it was the only chance. As I neared 
him and seeing no one I said without appearing to notice 
him, ^'don't recognize me, Andy; meet me at Julius Win- 
ters, at three o'clock." ''All right," said he, and we 
passed as strangers. T was there before the hour and Mr. 
Winter showed me a way to escape in case of treachery. 
But Andy came up all right and was a great help to me 
during my stay in the city. 

One W. J. Dixon escaped from the Eighth and Broad- 
way prison one night and on the next morning the papers 
gave an account of it and a description of Mr. Dixon 
which exactly fitted W, J. Mason, I had gone down 
town before reading the paper, but when I saw the no- 
tice I concluded it was best to keep dark and stayed close 
in Johnson's back room. Dixon was recaptured and the 
evening papers gave an account of it, but still I did not 
feel safe in venturing out for fear that everybody had 
not read the papers. When Mrs. Stewart and Mrs. 
Bridgeford read of the recapture of Dixon, they were 
uneasy, fearing there might have been a mistake and to 
satisfy themselves, they came down late in the afternoon 
to hunt me up. To say that they and I were glad to see 
each other but poorly expresses it, but we all went home 
together. 

Times began to be a little ticklish and I had deter- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



75 



mined to move my quarters when Mr. John Weslej 
Hughes appeared on the scene. Mr. Hughes had mar- 
ried a Miss Lewis (an aunt of Mrs. Ella Allowaj-), a Union 
county lady, and had no trouble in passing me for a cou- 
sin to his wife. Mr. Hughes was a widower, but lived 
with his brother-in-law, John Woodson Hughes, six 
miles below the city on the Cane Run road, in what was 
known as "The Pond settlement," and at that time, off 
to itself, and a little world of its own. On account of its 
seclusion it was a good place for a Confederate to hide 
himself away. The settlement was composed of the very 
best and most hospitable people and all warm Southern 
sympathizers, (except Ex-Governor Merri wether), and a 
portion of his house were none too ''loyal." There was a 
goodly number of young people in the neighborhood who 
were in perfect accord and always ready for fun, frolic 
and adventure and we managed to fill my three weeks' 
stay about as full as it would hold. Music, dancing, pic- 
nics, horseback excursions, serenades, boat rides, char- 
ades, anything co amuse ourselves and we often engaged 
in excursions which were risky to me and I often wonder 
now, when I look back to those events, why I wasn't de- 
tected and captured. I was taking the same risk that 
the moth takes with the candle, but escaped the scorch- 
ing. The very daring of the act of going right into the 
enemy's camp and courting danger appears now, to have 
been my protection, and other and later experience down 
South during the most active movements of the armies, 
goes to prove the correctness of this conclusion. Music 
was our principal enjoyment. Misses Sallie and Annie 
Hughes, Miss Fannie Saddler and the two Misses Gaar 
were accomplished pianists, Charley Hughes and Mr. Da- 
vidson, his brother-in-law, played the violin; Charley 



76 



REMINISCENCES 



Janson, the flute. All were good singers and I played 
the "fiddle" and could sing some mj^self. We had music 
in the parlor, music on the river, music in the Beecli woods, 
music everywhere. Two nights in every week we devot- 
ed to serenades and enjoyed ourselves to the fullest ex- 
tent. There was only one drawback to my enjoyment. 
Mr. Davidson was an Indianian and a Union man. I had 
reason to believe that he suspected my identity and at 
times I felt a little uncomfortable for fear that he would 
betray me, but when he did discover my true character 
he proved a true man and kept it to himself. The two 
Charlies — Hughes and Janson — w^ere in love with the 
same young lady who lived across the river just below 
New Albany. They had both made an attempt to give 
her a serenade, but on account of the objections raised 
by a big bull dog, owned by her father, both attempts 
had failed. On learning of this I proposed to lead an 
expedition which would succeed, provided they would 
obey orders, to which they both agreed. We needed a 
skiff in which to cross the river and Mr. Stanton Gaar, 
w^ho lived nearly opposite our desti aation, was the owner 
of two or three good ones, and we decided to borrow^ one 
of them, besides we washed to serenade his daughters, 
who were members of our club. Mr. Gaar was a great 
fox-hunter and the possessor of a large "pack" of hounds. 
There were tAventy of them of aH sizes, colors and condi- 
tions, with voices attuned to produce the best effect w^hen 
engaged in the chase. We sAole into the front yard, 
took up an advantageous position and struck up "Annie 
Laurie," when out rushed tht hounds, formed a circle 
around us, with their tails on the ground and their heads 
in the air, they set up such ?i howl that our music was 
literally drowned. While Mit played they howled; but 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 77 

when we stopped playing all was silent as the grave. 
The hounds seemed to think that they belonged to the 
band and must do their part. Of course no one could 
hear our music but every one on the place was curious 
to know what was causing the comn)otion. The negroes 
came to their cabin doors and looked on with wonder and 
Mr. Gaar came to his front door and took a peep, but be- 
ing unable to account for the racket he returned to bed. 
The situation was becoming ludicrous, so we sent a 
negro in to notify Mr. Gaar who we were, when the old 
gentleman came rushing out, in his night shirt, and very 
warmly invited us into the parlor, which he had lit up 
for our entertainment. We played several favorite tunes 
for Mr. Gaar, and he had the cake and wine passed, to 
which we did ample justice, but at the same time we 
were prepared to beat a hasty retreat, as we expected the 
young ladies to come in at any moment and Mr. Gaar 
w^as still in his night shirt. But the ladies did not come 
and after arranging with Mr. Gaar for the skiff we took 
our departure, feeling like the young ladies had given 
us a bad "shake.'' While we w'ere still at the yard gate 
discussing this point, Mr. Gaar ran out on the porch with 
"Say, boys, the girls ain't at home. They went to town 
this morning and didn't come back." This set things all 
straight and we were glad that it was so, as it would 
have been a little embarrassing to have met them with 
the old gentleman dressed as he was and we were sure 
he would not have thought to change clothes even for 
them. "Honi soit que mal y pense." 

We crossed the river and landed in front of the house 
of Miss Sue Hymes, the lady to be serenaded, and T 
formed my squad in column of two, with Davidson and 
I in the lead. After tuning up, selecting our music and 

6 



7^ 



REMINISCENCES 



requeFting the boys not to stampede, I gave the order to 
march. When we had reached within twenty or thirty 
yards of the house the bull dog heard us and came rush- 
ing around the corner right at us with a full determina 
tion to annihilate the whole party, at the same time we 
began playing as if there was no dog around and he 
rushed on down to the front gate where he soon became 
quiet and we found him guarding our skiff a couple of 
hours later when we started for home. Miss Sue invited 
us in and I found her a very entertaining young lady, but 
a "teetotaler," as she passed water with the cake instead 
of wine, as at Mr. Gaar's. 

Charley Janson had been to the city that afternoon 
and brought back a "little brown jug," which he man- 
aged to smuggle along that night and the two Charlies 
gave it special attention and very much to my surprise 
and alarm I discovered that they were both genteelly 
^^tight," when we walked into Miss Hymes' parlor and 
Charlie Hughes ''took great pleasure" in introducing me 
as one of "General Morgan's scouts." Great Sam Hill. 
There I was on the wrong side of the Ohio river, given 
dead away. Knowing that Davidson was my political 
enemy and supposing the young lady and her household 
were the same, it is easy to imagine that I was uncom- 
fortable. But Miss Sue soon put my fears at rest so fai' 
as she was concerned, by giving me a warm welcome and 
giving me to understand that her sympathies were all on 
the side of the South. She exerted herself so well to 
make my visit pleasant that both Charlies grew jealous 
and complained that she was neglecting them. I gave 
Davidson the wink and w^e got them away before any- 
thing unpleasant occurred. On reaching the skiff David- 
son found their jug and threw it overboard. This so ex- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 79 

cited them that they seemed to get drunker and drunker, 
tried to turn over the skiff and when in the middle of the 
river we were passed by a large steamer loaded down 
with Yankee soldiers, both jumped to their feet and 
yelled at the top of their voices, "Hurrah for Jeff Davis."' 
I expected a volley to be fired into us and it is still a won- 
der to me why we were allowed to go unmolested, as T 
knew the Yankees were generally ready to shoot on very 
slight provocation. But we arrived home safely and 
after disposing of the two Charlies I had a reckoning 
with Davidson. After talking the matter over he said to 
me: '^I am very much surprised at the information T 
have gained tonight and cannot imagine how you have 
escaped detection. You are certainly running a desper- 
ate risk. I could get good pay to betray you and it 
might appear that it is my duty as a Union man to report 
you, but you may rest easy on that score. While you. 
are here I will do what 1 can to protect you, but advise 
you to get out of this locality as soon as possible." Da- 
vidson kept his word and aided me on two occasions af- 
terward w^hen but for him I would have got into trouble. 
The young people would often meet at Mr. Hughes' 
and enjoy themselves wath music, readings, charades and 
many other ways all suggested by Mrs. Hughes who was 
as young as the youngest; in fact she was only known as 
''Miss Lucy." On one occasion an "Ether" party was 
proposed and without thinking of consequences steps 
W4^re taken to carry it th*rough. A pint of sulphuric 
ether was secured and after the crowd assembled the fun 
commenced. Handkerchiefs were saturated and placed 
over the faces of the subjects and it was curious to note 
the different effects it produced on different persons. 
Some would quietly go to sleep and show no emotion. 



8o 



REMINISCENCES 



while a majority would go into a kind of trance and talk 
of what appeared — and probabl}^ was — the burden of 
their waking thoughts. One after another experimented 
with the drug with more or less laughable and ludicrous 
results, but it was most too risky for me to tamper with. 
I had too much at stake to take such chances. As the 
game I was playing was always uppermost in my mind, 
I was afraid of giving myself away if I tinkered with it 
and held myself aloof. 

Eaymond Merriwether, an old widower, son of the 
Ex-Governor, and somewhat of an oddity, also refused to 
participate in the fun for a long time, but they got him 
at last and his antics were as good as a whole circus. 

The whole crowd was ''Etherialiy" drunk and I had 
hopes that I would be overlooked, but they made a 
charge, overpowered me and forced me to inhale the in- 
sidious drug. Nerved by the spirit of self-preservation I 
fought against its effects with such success as to retain 
my reason. I began to grow a little boisterous when 
Raymond grabbed the bottle, ran outside and threw it 
against a tree. While the bottle was not broken the di- 
version gave us time to regain our sense, and put an end 
to the most reckless frolic that I ever took part in. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE exchange of prisoners had been resumed and T 
began to make arrangements to get back to the 
army. 

I procured a horse and other things necessary and 
fixed the time to start, but delayed my departure from 
day to day in order to have the company of David Merri- 
wether, Jr., who promised to go with me, but needed a 
little time to get ready. In '61 David ran off from home 
and enlisted with Colonel Blanton Duncan's regiment 
and went with it to Virginia. He was at that time a 
minor and the old Governor still claimed parental au- 
thority, so he followed Dav id and brought him back. But 
David had now attained his majority and still held his 
views on the war question and decided to "rush to glory 
or the grave.'^ The day was set for our departure and T 
was ready, ''booted and saddled," when I received a note 
from David, notifying me that he could not go. This 
changed all my plans and I had to form new ones. In- 
stead of starting South I went into the city and, as was 
my custom, left my horse at Musselman's livery stable. 
Mr. Musselman was "one of us" and his stable was a kind 
of headquarters for the boys. I went around to see all 
my old city friends to bid them good-bye and get any mes- 
sage they might have had for their loved ones in the 
army. At nearly every place I called I was given letters 
to father, brother, husband or sweetheart and by the 



82 REMINISCENCES 

time I made the rounds I was supplied with twenty-five or 
thirty. The condition on which I accepted these letters 
was that they were not to be inclosed in an envelope or 
addressed. I had each numbered and kept a memoran- 
dum in cypher so that I could send them to their proper 
destination when I reached the South. This was a fine 
opportunity tg find out the heart secrets of several young- 
ladies, but I pledge my word, I do not know what those 
letters contained, but they all reached their destination, 
as I have since learned, (from the boys.) (A few days 
before, my friend, Mr. Johnson, handed me a quart of 
nine-year-old French brandy, with the request that I de- 
liver it, with his compliments, to General John C. Breck- 
enridge. After I got South I had to trust it to other 
hands, but he received it all right as he afterwards told 
me when we met at Tunnel Hill, Ga., in 1864.) On my 
rounds I met Miss Fontaine on her way to her father's 
office, and, being invited, I w^ent with her. Arriving 
there I found everything in a commotion and a regiment 
of soldiers drawn up on the street. Colonel Fontaine 
told his daughter that General Pegram, with a large 
force, was on his way to attack Louisville, had reached 
Danville the day before and shelled the town killing Mrs. 
Mitchell, that martial law had been declared in Louis- 
ville and that the soldiers there were to be placed around 
the city to guard against any one going out or coming 
in. Fortunately the Colonel had no time to devote to us 
and we were summarily dismissed. While in the office 
I wrote on a slip of paper, ^'Mussel., have him ready,'' 
and as I left Colonel Fontaine's office, handed it and a 
quarter to a boot-black with instructions to take it to 
Musselman's stable. I saw Miss Fontaine home and, de- 
clining an invitation to stay to dinner, made tracks for 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER 



8j 



my horse. Arriving at the stable I found him saddled 
and Musselman holding the stirrup. I asked, "What's 
my bill?'' "Bill," said Musselman, "get on this 
horse and get out of here, if you can." I mounted and 
rode down Market to Ninth, out Ninth to Broadway and 
on turning down Broadway I saw a squad of soldiers just 
ahead of me going my way. Whether to attempt to turn 
and go some other route or push by them was a question 
which I was not long in deciding. I determined on a 
bold move and rode by them at a fairly moderate pace,, 
without appearing to notice them, quickening the pace 
after I had passed until I was at a safe distance. Mat- 
ters were growing a little desperate and I decided' to 
leave the country. After gathering up my belongings I 
made a start at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, intend- 
ing to cross Salt Eiver and go out by what was then 
known as the Western Route, but I had not gone far be- 
fore I found that closed against me. The only way of 
escape was across the three ponds lying below the city. 
I knew nothing of their depth or the kind of bottom to 
be found, but the case was desperate and I determined 
to risk it. I was riding a noble horse and he readily an- 
swered to my wishes when I guided him to the water's 
edge. Without the least hesitation he plunged in and 
we were fortunate enough to cross all three of the lakes 
in safety and without any very great danger, and I sup- 
pose that, up to the time these ponds were drained, I am 
the only man who ever crossed them on horseback. Hav- 
ing missed my figures on the W^estern route I was forced 
to try the Eastern. The one crossed the Cumberland 
between Gallatin and Lebanon and the other at Burk- 
ville. To make the Western trip the start must be made 
in the evening and for the Eastern route in the morning. 



84 



REMINISCENCES 



1 had a "way bill" of both and as the time of my depart- 
ure had been set by the Yankees, I had to make a virtue 
of necessity and go East. After crossing the ponds, I 
made my way through farms (flanking the pickets) to the 
old fair grounds and the home of Mr. William Hardin, 
who was an old friend of my father. I knew "Uncle 
Billy" was a staunch Union man, but a true-hearted 
friend. I found him and his wife living a simple country 
life with two old negro servants who had been reared in 
the family and were treated by "Ole Mars and Ole Miss" 
as part of the household. Old "Uncle Ben" took my 
horse and cared for him and "Aunt Nancy" prepared my 
room with as much care as if I had been her own flesh 
and blood, and when she lighted me to my room at bed 
time her parting words were, "God bless yo, and perteck 
yo, I'se got a boy down whar yo' gwine. I nussed his 
mammy and I nussed him and I lub him as much as if he 
was my own chile. Ef yo see him tell him his ole mam- 
my prays for him all de time. Yo needn't be 'fraid, hon- 
ey. Ole Marse and the rest of us will take cyar ob yo." 
Knowing the close affection which existed between mas- 
ter and slave in those days and the great interest of the 
older negroes in the honorable career of the children of 
their masters, I felt perfectly safe and slept as if the 
country was enjoying perfect peace. 

I have learned that these four old people (Mr. and 
Mrs. Hardin, Uncle Ben and Aunt Nancy), now lie in the 
same old family burying ground, side by side. One in 
life and not separated by death. Who will say that in 
this case, the world was made worse. Such things as 
this is what makes me love a "nigger" — I mean the old- 
fashioned kind and right here, if I may be pardoned for 
digression, I will say that, African slavery, as applied 




Col, Bennett h. Young 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



85 



to the white people, was a curse, but as applied to the 
negro, was the greatest blessing the race ever enjoyed. 
Compared with the benighted condition of the negro in 
a natural state, full of superstition, worshiping a malig- 
nant devil instead of a beneficent God; we find that by 
reason of his association with a higher order of intellect, 
and especially, because he is made to feel that others are 
interested in his welfare, all the ambition and energy 
that may be in his nature is brought into action and to 
this extent he is improved. An "old time" negro said 
to me, a few days ago, "dar's nobody knows a mule, but 
the nigger who wu'ks 'em and dar's nobody knows a nig- 
ger lak de white folks dat raised 'em." 

While it is a fact that the Southern people were not 
thoroughly educated, at the same time there was more 
real culture South than North at the beginning of the 
war. While I do not wish to open the issue at this late 
date, I do want to enter my protest and defend my sec- 
tion against the stereotyped reports printed in Northern 
papers, purporting to be "interviews" with Southern 
people. I have read numerous stories emanating from the 
pen of some "hobo" writer from the North who never 
heard a bullet whistle nor smelt powder, perhaps, and 
likely, was in his swaddling clothes while we were mak- 
ing history, in which he reports Southern people as using 
^'you'uns and we'uns," and other bad pronunciation gen- 
erally. The cheap trash retailed through the country as 
war history is not entitled to honest respect by anybody. 
The sooner the American people find that they are all in 
the "same boat," the better they will get along. It will 
do no one any good to claim superiority. While some 
may count their money by millions, they are not, on that 
account, any better than their poorer brethren, nor en- 



86 REMINISCENCES 

titled to any greater respect. We are all Americans, 
and proud of our country. No section should arorgate 
to itself any special merit or favor but all w<prk together 
to effect a closer union and a higher civilization. The 
Southern people are living up to this standard today. 
They allow no section to surpass them in patriotic duty 
and are winning their way to the front again. 

I waited at Mr. Hardin's till the morning train ar- 
rived and supplying myself with the morning "Cincin- 
nati" papers, through the' kindness of Mr. Hardin, (they 
were contraband and only Union men could get them) T 
bade my old friends good-bye and started on my trip to 
Dixie. 

This trip was risky and I started on it with a good 
deal of trepidation. Alone and in a strange land, with 
danger (real and imaginary) on all sides I had to put 
my wits to work and play a "bluff game," I struck the 
Bardstown pike at the "Five Mile House," and there met 
with a government contractor who was buying mules and 
sheep for the army. I made a trade with him and got a 
commission to represent him anywhere in the State. I 
then proceeded down the road and when within a few 
miles of Bardstown came upon some men repairing a 
bridge. I asked them the distance to town, which was 
the leading hotel, and whether I could buy any mules or 
sheep in that part of the country? They gave me all the 
information I wanted and after thanking them cordially, 
I moved on. A few hundred yards from the bridge 1 
turned up the dry bed of Beech creek and made my way 
to the home of Ben Lancaster. Mr. Lancaster had gone 
to town, but I had no trouble in making myself known 
to his good wife, who was posted on the "countersign," 
and she gave me a hearty welcome. Although Mr. Lan- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 87 

caster was usually on hand at supper be did not put in 
an appearance till about midnigbt and tbis caused bis 
wife a great deal of uneasiness. Wben be did come, be 
explained tbe delay by sbowing us a "poster offering a 
reward for my arrest and as tbe description fully de- 
scribed bim be was detained, in my stead, and bad be not 
been well known in town be migbt bave suffered for my 
offense. It seemed tbat some one bad reported me and a 
squad was sent after me and were only a couple of bours 
bebind wben I left tbe Bardstown road. Tbey learned 
from tbe men at tbe bridge tbat I would stop at a cer- 
tain botel, found Lancaster tbere and arrested bim. 

Tbe next morning Mr. Lancaster piloted me tbrougb 
tbe woods around Bardstown and I took dinner witb Sid- 
ney Hagan near New Haven. After dinner Mr. Hagan 
guided me across tbe bills and put me on w^bat was 
known at tbat time as tbe ^'underground'' route to tbe 
Confederacy. Tbis route led over bills and down bol- 
lows and was isolated from general travel. Up to tbis 
time I bad tbougbt Ibat old Kentucky was a level country 
and abounded in fine farms and fine towns and cities, 
but my observations on tbis trip dispelled tbe delusion. 
Witb a few exceptions, I struck tbe most God-forsaken 
country tbat could be imagined. Tbe bills were so bigb 
and tbe bollows so deep tbat tbe people wbo lived in tbe 
coves never saw tbe sunligbt only wben tbey went to 
town and tben tbrougb tbe bottom of a tumbler. Tbis 
was the home of tbe man wbo invented pegged shoes. 
The hills were so close together tbat be couldn't draw 
his thread without skinning his elbows against the rocks 
and be w^as forced to work perpendicular. I found bim 
^'peggin" away and if be ain't dead I suppose he is still 
"peggin."! met several men this afternoon, all dressed in 



38 REMINISCENCES 

Yankee uniform. Believing tliem to be deserters, I made 
myself known as a government agent, got all the infor- 
mation I wanted and got rid of them without any trou- 
ble. They did not want to see me any worse than I did 
them. 

Making my way over hills and hollows I arrived 
about sundown at the home of Mr. Howell, who was a 
good Southern man and whose name I had on my list. 
Mr. Howell kept a country store and had a nice little 
farm in a kind of "pocket" between the mountains. He 
was a cripple and wore a steel extension under his left 
foot to piece out his left leg which was the shortest. Mrs. 
Howell was an elegant and accomplished lady and I was 
made to feel pezfectly at home. My route, the next day, 
was down a long hollow for about thirty miles with 
nothing to follow but an ordinary bridle path and some 
times through an unbroken forest. About sundown T 
arrived at a "stage stand" on the old Lexington and 
Nashville road and was very glad to strike a place to stop 
for the night. The lady of the house gave me fried ham, 
hot biscuit, good "yaller'' butter and cold sweet milk for 
supper. As I had had nothing to eat since breakfast it is 
needless to say that I did ample justice to the feast. 
Mind you, I wasn't feeling very well and my mess-mates 
always said that I ate more when I was a little complain- 
ing. This may have been true as I never felt well when 
right hungry. 

The fifth day of my trip lay through Green county 
and I crossed Green river a few miles east of Greensburg, 
the county seat. I ate dinner at the old Smith home- 
stead where Mrs. Henry Parson was born and raised. 1 
met with White Smith, her brother, who had just re- 
turned home on furlough and he told me that the squad 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



89 



of Yankees which was after me had passed through 
Campbellsville the day before and were then at Biirks- 
ville watching for me. But I moved on and reached my 
last station, north of the Cumberland, about sundown. 
William Cole and Elijah Hatcher were two brothers-in- 
law who owned a nice farm together just in the edge of 
Cumberland county and they were both of a hapj)y dis- 
position and managed to keep on good terms with all 
their neighbors regardless of their political views. An- 
other advantage in Mr. Cole's favor : his wife was a native 
of Massachusetts. She had taught school in the neigh- 
borhood prior to the breaking out of hostilities and en- 
deared herself to her patrons by her ple'asant manners 
and Mr. Cole was so well pleased that he married her. 
He did well. Besides being a beautiful woman, Mrs. 
Cole possessed a sweet disposition and during her few 
years' association with Southern people had imbibed all 
their ideas and was as truly Southern in sentiment as 
though she had been born and reared in the South. Mr. 
Cole arrived home from Burksville about the same time 
I arrived at his house and confirmed the report of the 
Yankees being ahead of me and watching for me at the 
river. My only chance was to wait till they gave up the 
chase, and as I did not know how long that would be, I 
arranged to buy all the sheep in that section of the coun- 
try. One Mr. Skaags, a very important!?) man in the 
neighborhood, soon found out that there was a new ar- 
rival and set about finding out my business. Mr. S. w^as 
one of these delectable '^cusses," found in every com- 
munity, who thought the salvation of the country de- 
pended entirely on his individual effort. Too lazy to 
work and too cowardly to fight, he played informer in 
the hope of being rewarded in some way, but most gen- 



gQ REMINISCENCES 

erally his object was, free drinks, ''free grub," and a little 
cheap notoriety. These informers, I am happy to say, 
were held in contempt by the parties whom they served 
and are handed down in infamy in all histories of the 
war. Mr. Cole posted me on Mr. Skaags and I struck 
him for business. I employed him to buy sheep, allowing 
him to pay a big price and giving him a commission of 
fifty cents a head, the sheep to be delivered at Campbells- 
ville on the next Monday when I would be there to re- 
■ceive and pay for them. Either Mr. Cole or Mr. Hatcher 
would go to Burksville every day and learn all he could 
about the intentions of the soldiers. Thursday, Fridav 
and Saturday passed and no sign of a move. Late Sat- 
urday night Skaags reported six hundred sheep bought 
and Monday was delivery day. Matters were closing 
down and the situation w^as growing a little interesting. 
I did not want those sheep and I did want to get across 
the river. I saw a lot of expectant farmers at Camp- 
bellsville and a lot of ''blue coats'- at Burksville. I pre 
vailed on Mr. Hatcher to attend church in town on Sun- 
day and on his return that night he informed me that the 
soldiers would leave for Louisville at 8 o'clock the next 
morning. I concluded under the circumstances that I 
had better cross the river as soon as they left, so after 
supper I started on the last important stage of my jour- 
ney. About three miles from my starting point the road 
entered a deep hollow which extended to within a mile 
of the river. To add to the diflSculty of finding the road, 
there began to fall one of these old-fashioned pouring 
rains, which continued all night with no intermission and 
the darkness was total. I had to trust to the instinct of 
my horse, as it was impossible for me to distinguish any 
object. Twice during the night, I met parties composed 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. ^I 

of three or four, but we passed without any notice. T 
did not wish to make any acquaintances and I suppose 
they were of the same mind. After travelling down this 
hollow about twenty miles without passing a single hu- 
man habitation, (the rain pouring down without any in- 
terniission) sometimes stumbling oyer large boulders 
which laid in the path, and often fording the mountain 
streams, midside to my horse, all the time enveloped in 
total darkness, about four o'clock in the morning I, heard 
the old familiar "cock-a-doodle-doo,'' off to the left of the 
road and knew that I was apjiroaching civilization again. 
Under other circumstances — which every soldier under- 
stands- -this indiscretion on the part of that rooster 
would have proved fatal, but I hope that old fellow is 
living and "presiding" yet. I followed his "clarion" 
note and he led me to a tobacco barn, where I took shel- 
ter, and was discovered the next morning by Mr. Milton, 
the owner of that rooster and the barn. Mrs. Milton 
gave me a good breakfast of fried ham and "shore nuff 
coffee," and Mr. Milton fed my horse out in a thicket 
fixed up for the purpose. After refreshing the inner 
man I lit my pipe and awaited developments. 
8oon after sunrise I saw the company of Federal cavalry 
moving up the road and Mr. Milton came in and informed 
me that the coast was clear. I lost no time in mounting 
and getting away. The ferry at Burksville is — or was — 
about a quarter of a mile above town and the approach 
was over a sandy beach. The ferryman was at work at 
something on the outer end of his boat and did not know 
of my presence until I rode aboard. I dismounted, un- 
tied the boat and began to shove out. He wanted me to 
wait till he could go up in town and get some coffee for 
breakfast, but I had no time for delay and soon proved to 



Q2 REMINISCENCES 

• 

him that it was best for his personal safety to get the 
boat across the river in the shortest order. The fact was, 
my neck had been feeling the halter for six weeks and I 
was now within two hundred yards of liberty. I believed 
the ferryman suspected me and was playing for the 
chance to get the reward offered for my capture. Rath- 
er than to have been captured then, I would have killed 
him and I ask the judgment of the soldiers, North and 
South, whether or not, I would have been justified. But, 
thank God, I didn't have to hurt him. He grabbed a pole 
and sent that boat across the river in a hurry. By the 
time we reached the Southern shore I was on my horse 
and dropping the ferryman a half dollar by way of sooth- 
ing "syrup" I spurred up the bank and lost no time in 
gaining the cover of the timber some two hundred yards 
from the landing. On looking back I saw my ferryman 
working for dear life, trying to reach the other shore, and 
when he landed he made 2 :40 time up town to report me. 
I remained long enough to see that he had assembled 
quite a crowd to litsen to him, but as I was not, just at 
that time, interested in their affairs I concluded to go on 
to Albany where Colonel Scott's First Louisiana cavalry 
was encamped and where I expected to find some of the 
parties for whom I had letters from home. 

I had the good fortune to reach Colonel Scott's camp 
in time for dinner and by reason of my credentials was 
duly enrolled for rations in Captain McGimpsey's com- 
pany, composed of French-Creoles from East and West 
Feliciana Parish and Billy Hughes and Lumpky. Billy 
was a brother of John Wesly, Misses Sallie and Annie 
and "Miss Lucy," spoken of in last chapter. Lumpky be- 
longed to another family and his ,biography will api^ear 
in another chapter. 




Interrupted by a Shell. 



CHAPTER VII. 



A SHORT time before my arrival at Colonel Scott's 
camp, his regiment had met Colonel Woolford's 
First Kentucky, near Somerset and got most gloriously 
''licked.'' In the melee several of the boys had lost their 
horses, Billy Hughes being one of the unfortunates. A 
cavalryman afoot is like a fish out of water and Billy's 
comrades took steps to secure him a mount. After a 
thorough scout among the hills and hollows they cap- 
tured a very diminutive mountain mule, three years old 
and thoroughly unbroken. This little mule seemed to be 
possessed of all the innate deviltry of his race and fully 
determined to have his way in spite of the combined ef 
forts of the whole camp to control him. After Billy had 
tried every means to conquer the brute and I had used 
all my ingenuity without success, Corporal Garrett came 
to the rescue. The Corporal was 5 feet 6 inches in his 
boots and split pretty well towards his shoulders. After 
saddling and bridling the mule, with the assistance of 
the balance of the regiment the Corporal mounted, and 
gave the word to let go and the fun commenced. The 
mule began to "buck/' but soon found that this would do 
no good as the Corporal was standing on his feet when- 
ever the mule touched the ground. The performance 
was very much like is seen when a new beginner tries to 
learn to ride a safety bicycle. Finding that he was get- 
ting tbe worst of it, the mule changed his tactics and 
7 



g. REMINISCENCES 

• 
tried the lying down dodge, only to find the Corporal 
astride when he got up. Very suddenly, right in the 
midst of our enjoyment of the contest the mule gave up 
the battle and turning his head to the Corporal, like his 
ancestor to Balaam, owned that he was conquered. There 
was no one who seemed to enjoy this so much as Corporal 
Garrett. One of the boys named the mule ''Lumpke," 
which is French for ^'tricks." And this little mule did 
as much and as willing service as the best horse in the 
regiment. From March, 1863, till the battle of Chicka- 
mauga in September, I was with Scott's regiment and in 
all its scouting, picketing and fighting through the moun- 
tains of Tennessee and Kentucky, Lumpk} and his rider 
were always where duty called and the little mule was 
as great a favorite in the regiment as the most popular 
officer or soldier in it. 

There were all sorts of names in our company and 
roll call afforded a lot of amusement when our Orderly 
Sergeant would call out. Batts, Baggs, Bimka, Bou- 
treaux, (Bootrow,) Goutreau, (Gootrow,) Bouriergier, 
(Bur-say-shay) (changed by the Sergeant to Buckashee.) 
and others too difficult to spell or pronounce. These 
were from Louisiana, but about half the regiment was 
composed of Kentuckians recruited on General Kirby 
Smith's trip into the State in August, '62. This was a 
fine body of men, well officered and carved itself an hon- 
ored name in the history of the Confederacy. Connected 
with the regiment was a battery of two twelve-pounder 
mountain howitzers and while their range was limited 
they could make as much noise as the most pretentious 
field pieces and, at short range, were very effective weap- 
ons. They helped us out of several tight places during 
the six months that I k^pt them company and on two oc- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



95 



casions saved the whole command from capture or over- 
whelming disaster. 

And now the time has come when there has to be 
some fighting done and I hope my readers will be as pa- 
tient as possible and not blame me if I go a little slow. 
Fighting is, in a certain way, a slow business, and there 
was a heap of it to be done in the next two years. I did 
not start out to write a history of the w^ar, but only to 
give my individual experience and observation, yet en- 
graved on my memory as vividly as though occurring 
but yesterday. The small occurrences in camp and on 
the field are the ones the private soldier likes most to 
talk about, the credit or discredit of the battle is given to 
the officers in command. Feeling a pardonable pride in 
the bravery and patriotism of both officers and men, com- 
posing the Southern armies, with a sincere brotherly 
love for my comrades and a sincere respect for the brave 
men who fought us like men at the front, I hope to make 
these papers readable, to the old soldiers of both armies 
and to their descendants, and thus aid in perpetuating 
American patriotism by arousing a spirit of emulation 
in the generations to follow, encourage them to point 
back with pride to the deeds of their ancestors as we 
were taught in our youth to revere the memory of our 
forefathers of '76 and thus perpetuate the cause of hu- 
man liberty and our glorious institutions in their purity 
till, by our example, political and religious, liberty shall 
prevail throughout the world and pave the way for the 
great millenium. 

"Boot and saddle." There goes the bugle, and from 
the quick, sharp way the notes rang out we knew that 
quick and sharp work was ahead of us. Colonel ^yolford 
was on the north bank of the Cumberland and seemed to 



96 



REMINISCENCES 



be preparing to cross. The First Kentucky Federal cav- 
alry, commanded by General Woodford, was the best 
cavalry regiment in that army and the Colonel was the 
best cavalry officer. This was the only body of Federal 
cavalry that we ever had any trouble with when we had 
anything like the same force. They could ride faster, 
shoot harder, their rifles crack keener and bullets sing- 
wickeder than any other command of cavalry we ever met 
and knowing who was before us we lost no time in get- 
ting ready. We moved out at a lively speed, passed 
through Monticello and took the Mill Spring road, ex- 
pecting to meet the enemy at any moment, but on reach- 
ing the river we found the alarm was false and every fel- 
low drew a loug breath of relief. We returned to within 
a few miles of our old camp and were quiet for a few days 
when a portion of General Morgan's command came 
along and we started out to hunt trouble again. This 
time we found it. A few miles north of Monticello the 
road to Stagall's ferry abruptly leaves the Mill Spring 
road and right here we found the enemy drawn up in a 
strong position in a large woodland, the approach to 
which was across a large farm with a lane through the 
middle. We knew they were there, but they kept well 
hid and we had no idea of their numbers. They wouldn't 
show up and we didn't like to crowd them without know- 
ing some thing of their numbers and position. Col. Scott 
asked Captain Harper to reconoiter their position. Cap- 
tain Harper was a kind of ''old daddie" in the regiment, 
was senior Ca^jtain and loved like a father by all the 
boys. He was a grand old man, an old Mexican veteran, 
kind and gentle as a woman and not afraid of the devil. 
I heard the request of Col. Scott and supposed the captain 
would order his company to "forward march.'' Instead^ 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 97 

he beckoned to me and started down the lane. I rode to 
his side and said, "My God, Captain, are we going by 
ourselves?'' "Yes," said he, without showing the least 
emotion, "if they catch or kill us, it is only two and if I 
had brought the whole company they might kill a lot 
of the boys and, perhaps, capture the rest and the Colo- 
nel would not get any more information that we can give 
him. This is a forlorn hope and if you don't want to go 
with me you can return, but I am going to the edge of 
that timber if a bullet don't stop me before I get there." 
I never wanted an excuse to turn back as I did on that oc- 
casion, but 1 liked the old Captain so well — I reckon this 
was the reason — that 1 stayed with him. We reached 
the end of the lane without adventure and I had begun 
to feel more comfortable. My courage, which had been 
hiding in my boots, had crawled up and was about ready 
to ooze out of my ears, when "bang, Whiz-z-z-z, bang," 
and a shell struck a big gum tree right over our heads, 
exploding when it struck and tearing a big "sliver" out 
of one side of the tree, throwing splinters all around us. 
I was ready to faint, but the Captain quietly remarked, 
^^that's all right, let's go back, John," and I did not need 
a second invitation. The Captain was riding as good a 
horse as mine and I saw no good reason why my horse 
should lead his on the return as he failed to do so "going 
out." When I spoke to the Captain about it, he said, 
"perhaps your horse is hungry." When about half way 
back to the regiment the Yankees turned loose another 
shell at us which cut the top out of a walnut tree just 
ahead of us, but the old Captain rode along as quietly as 
if he was on his way to church. On our return, Mor- 
gan's force w^as sent around to the right and ours went to 
the left, forcing the enemy to retire across the river with- 



98 



REMINISCENCES 



out firing another gun and for a time, at least, saving the 
lives of many good men, besides conferring a great favor 
on your humble servant. After this little flurry we 
moved into the edge of Tennessee and encamped on 
Woolf creek, the headquarters of Tinker Dave Beatty^ 
better known in the history of that section, as "Old Tink- 
er Dave." Tinker had served the people of Clinton coun- 
ty, Ky., for years in the capacity of county clerk, but the 
war cut down the emoluments of his office and having an 
eye to business and not being particular about the means 
to gain an end he developed enough pa triotism to recruit 
a force of toughs and proceed to levy contributions on 
the people of that section of the country and where his 
demands were resisted, to administer such punishment 
as his mood prompted. He spread terror all through 
that section of country. He murdered inoffensive old 
men in cold blood; whipped and outraged defenseless 
women and for the most malicious deviltry he "out-Her- 
oded Herod." He claimed to be in the Federal service, 
but was the very worst type of a mountain bushwhack- 
er. Champ Ferguson lived in this locality and was con- 
sidered a Southern man. He owned a nice farm, for that 
country, and his family consisted of his wife and grown 
daughter, both of whom were fine looking, intelligent 
ladies and as spunky as Southern women generally were. 
I talked to them and this is the tale they told me. Dur- 
ing Mr. Ferguson's absence in Kentucky, Tinker, with 
thirty men, surrounded his house and made a search for 
him. The ladies, of course were elated and talked pret- 
ty "plain'' to Tinker and his men; among other things, 
called them a lot of cowards, ''that they knew Champ 
was not at home or they would not dare to have come 
after him.'' Tinker and his men cut a lot of switches 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. gg 

and after stripping the ladies, whipped them almost to 
death, and when Champ got home he found them in this 
condition. He went to work and from among those 
whose experience had been like his, he raised a company 
of about fifty men and went on the warpath for ven- 
geance, and with ''no quarters" for his motto. This was 
the state of affairs in the Woolf creek country when we 
entered it and we were to try to correct it, but besides 
giving the peaceable citizens a little security we accom- 
plished nothing. We had as well go fox hunting with- 
out hounds as to try to catch Tinker in those mountains 
with a regiment of cavalry. 

After a fruitless effort to capture Tinker Dave and 
put an end to his depredations, we were moved down near 
the river and set to watch Woolford, who was camped on 
the northside getting ready for a forward movement 
when the word was given. As the Cumberland is very 
narrow and it would have been barbarous to have kept 
up hostilities under the circumstances, we agreed on a 
truce between the pickets and each party watched his 
own side of the river in a peaceable, and gentlemanly 
way. Except when the officer of the guard was around 
the pickets would converse quite freely, discuss the cause 
of the war and other topics, exchange news from home 
and otherwise pass the time more or less pleasantly. It 
was the custom to detail one company of the regiment 
to do this picket duty for three days when another com- 
pany would relieve it, but sometimes the regiment would 
be engaged on some other duty when this company held 
its place until it could be relieved. Our company got 
caught on one occasion and was on picket line for a w^hole 
week. It so happened that whenever it w^as my time to 
go on post the same Yankee was on duty on the other side 



J 00 REMINISCENCES 

• 
of the river. For the first two or three days we had noth- 
ing to say to each other, but we gradually broke the ice 
and got quite friendly. 

Late one afternoon he called to me and told me of a 
move that would be made that night for my capture. 
He said that it was known that I was on outpost and that 
they wanted me as a spy, that they knew I had been in 
their lines under assumed name, had carried letters of in- 
formation and a plan of the Louisville fortifications out 
South with me. He told me that he was one of the 
squad that followed me from Louisville and watched for 
me at Burksville and gave me such a history of the event 
that I could not doubt it. I reminded him that I was 
now^ in the army and if captured would be entitled to 
the rights of a soldier. He agreed that this w^as true but 
that I would not be accorded that right and for that rea- 
son he gave me the warning. He said, "I know that I 
am acting in bad faith with my government, but I be- 
lieve in right and I know that you would be treated as a 
spy, so I warn you to get out of reach before daylight to- 
morrow morning.-' I wish I could remember this sol 
dier's name. I don't care if he was a Federal soldier he 
was a Kentuckian and an honorable man. Would that 
all the soldiers of the war had been possessed of the 
same principle, but unfortunately the war developed 
some very bad and unscrupulous characters on both sides 
of the line. Thanks to the high moral and patriotic 
training and the general acquiesence in our declaration 
of political and religious liberty, our American people 
fought the greatest civil war of the world on such a higli 
plane as to make it possible for victor and vanquished to 
unite again for the common good and work together with 
oqual zeal for the advancement of a united country. Let 




Oapt. Ed Porter Thompson. 

HISTORIAN OP THE ORPHAN BRIGADE 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. lOi 

US thank God that we have passed the crisis in our ex- 
istence and are today a united people, interested in the 
general welfare and prosperity of our common country, 
filled with the same glowing patriotism — Bouth as well 
as North — and the same determination to lead all the 
nations of the earth in the cause of equal rights to all 
and the highest Christian civilization. Let us thank God 
that we do not have to draw, in connection with our w^ar, 
the picture of a Hungary, a Poland or an Ireland. 

It was the custom to relieve the picket post at mid- 
night in order to veil our movements from the enemy. 
About two o'clock in the morning we were relieved by a 
company of Tennessee cavalry, which had been ordered 
to take our places on the front. They brought orders for 
us to report to our regiment without delay. We man- 
aged to get off about break of day and had gone about 
two miles when a cavalryman on a w^ounded horse dashed 
up and told us that all of his company, but himself, were 
captured. He had started out to a farm house to get a 
"square meaP' and was outside of their line when the 
Yankees surrounded the picket camp. They discovered 
him and fired on him, wounding his horse in the hip, but 
not so as to disable him. We about faced and made an 
effort to recapture our friends, but they had too good a 
start and w^hen w(* arrived at the river the enemy w^as 
safe on the other side. This was another link in the 
chain of my good luck. Two hours later and I would 
have been a prisoner, and while I give my Yankee friend 
thanks for his good intentions, yet, he would have failed 
to have done me inj good but for the order to move re- 
ceived in time to get me out of the way. This and other 
occurrences tend to strengthen my faith in "special prov- 
idences," taught to me by my good old mother, whose 



102 REMINISCENCES 

• 
memor}' I revere above anything else earthly and whose 
prayers followed her boy, daily while he was humbly try- 
ing to do his duty to his country as he construed it. I 
was only one of thousands of young men all over the 
country who went to the front to battle for principle, 
equipped with the blessing and followed by the prayers 
of a good mother w^ho watched his movements as only a 
fond mother could, glorying in his noble deeds, sorrowing 
for his misfortunes, weeping tears of regret over him 
when he fell in the discharge of duty, yet proud that he 
had the manhood to protect his and her name against 
dishonor. God bless our old mothers, boys. The most 
of them have gone to their rewards, but we who know 
them best, know their only desire was for our success 
in all honorable endeavors, and at all times protect the 
family honor. I am not writing this especially for my 
comrades of the South. Mothers are mothers through- 
out the civilized world and the boy from Vermont went 
to war with the same encouragement and the same 
*^other prayers" as the boy from South Carolina. Each 
section followed the light set before it and who will now^ 
say that one or the other acted for sectional aggrandise- 
ment or dishonest motives. Self-interest controls our 
actions in all the issues of life. While we may claim to 
act on the rule "as ye would that others should do unto 
you do ye even so unto them,-' and while we may flatter 
ourselves that we are following this rule strictly, we 
can't sometimes see why the other fellow is so contrary. 
This is what caused the war and, like the fall of Adam, 
brought woe into a great number of once happy homes 
both North and South. But the war is over now and 
our country is growing greater, our people more patri- 
otic, churches and schools are growing stronger and more 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. iq^ 

efficient, civil and religious liberty more respected, the 
sun shines brighter, the breezes blow balmier and the 
showers of God's blessing fall gentler on our land than 
any other country of the world. Leading the world in 
enterprise, inventions, productions, civil and religious 
libery. Who is not proud that he is an American citi- 
zen? When Robert Emmett made his famous declara- 
tion, "Let no man write my epitaph till Ireland is free,'* 
he struck the keynote of human liberty, which has been 
resouding down the pages of history^ attuned to the cries 
of the oppressed of every clime and country ; and will go 
on and on in the same strain until ''Libertas" is inscribed 
on the banner of every nation of the world and all men 
shall be "free and equal" as God created them. 




CHAPTER Vin. 

WE picketed Cumberland river and scouted around 
after "Tinker" for about two months. The bush- 
whackers would fire on us from the bluffs and hillsides 
sometimes wounding a man. or a horse; we would return 
the fire and sometimes knock one of them over, but never 
went out of our way to see whether he was dead or not. 
Our duties were light, we had plenty of ^'moutain dew" 
and honey and enjoyed ourselves generally. But the 
storm clouds were gathering and it was not to be long 
till they were to burst on us with all their fury and rage 
for two long lonesome years. Our army was camped 
about Tullahoma and kept up communication with Rich- 
mond via Chattanooga and Knoxville. Colonels Bird 
and Sanders had recruited two regiments from the moun- 
tains of East Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia, were 
moving down the Clinch river valley with the purpose of 
cutting Bragg's communications by destroying the rail- 
road bridge at Loudon, and we moved across the moun- 
tain to intercept them. Our route led through James- 
town, a county seat stuck into the side of the mountain, 
and Wartburg, a Swiss colony on the summit, where 
everything looked as described in histories of the Fath- 
erland and we could almost imagine that we were soldier- 
ing in the mountains of Switzerland. I will have occa- 
sion to refer to Wartburg again as we passed through 
the town on a later occasion under very different circum- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. iqc 

stances. We got across the mountaiu and crossed Clinch 
river at Kingston in time to get in front of Colonel Bird^ 
but as he had a force of 1,800 men and two three-inch 
rified cannon, and our force was but GOO men and two 
mountain howitzers we did not like to tackle him in the 
open. Besides, the enemy were ''hardy mountaineers" 
and supposed to be very bloodthirsty, so we gradually 
fell back to the breastworks at Loudon, hoping for re- 
inforcements or a right good chance to run aw^ay. But 
we got down in the ditches, got our little "bull dogs" in 
position and waited the attack Avith a full determination 
to put up the best fight we could. The enemy finally be- 
gun to show himself, run out his two cannon and after 
some delay turned them loose at us. By some means 
they were unable to throw^ their shells near us and we 
Boon felt quite secure from any harm from them. They 
were the poorest gunners 1 ever knew and if all the ar- 
tillerists of the armies had been like them there never 
would have beeu a man killed by a cannon unless it might 
have been the gunner himself. They moved up their 
line and prepared to charge on us. When the order was 
given to charge they came in a rush for about fifty yards 
when our skirmishers turned loose on them and sent 
them back in a hurry. This same performance was gone 
through with the third time when Colonel Scott decided 
to give them a lesson and prepared to charge them. Our 
howitzers began to throw shells among them and worked 
so fast and furious that their line was soon demoralized, 
when over we went after them with that "rebel A'ell," and 
they didn't stop to see us, but mounting their horses, 
struck out, every fellow for himself, like the old Harry 
was after them, throwing away everything that encum- 
bered. We mounted and chased them into the moun- 



jq5 reminiscences 

• 

tains, scattering them so that I never heard of them any 
more during the war. We captured their two rifled 
cannon, which were the finest field pieces I ever saw. 
All their camp equipages, numbers of small arms and 
Jiats enough to equip our regiment. 

About eight 3'ears ago, in the rotunda of the Willard 
Hotel at Louisville, I met an old comrade who was a 
member of Scott's regiment. It was the first time we 
had met since the war and like old soldiers do, we were 
talking over old times and fighting over the old battles in 
which the Bird and Sanders raid, as we called it, was 
pretty freely discussed. I noticed a tall, slim, red-faced 
old man, dressed in a black suit and wearing a ''plug" 
hat who was sitting near, seemed to be very much in- 
terested in our talk. My friend had to leave on the train 
and I went out on the sidewalk to see him off. After he 
had gone this old man approached me and said, ''I heard 
you telling about the Loudon fight." "Yes," said I, "do 
you know anything about it?" "I do," said he. 'Tm 
Colonel Bird." "Well, Colonel," said I, "did we tell it 
about right?" "Not quite," said the Colonel, "it was a 
heap worse than you said it. I never saw as scared a lot 
of men in my life. I lived at Clinton and thought I would 
get to stop and kiss my wife and daughters good-bye, 
but I didn't even have time to look towards the house. I 
thought I had two of the best regiments in the army and 
we would carry everything before us, but they were a 

set of cowards. They could do a heap of blowing, 

shoot from behind a tree or a rock, but couldn't stand 
<jold lead on open ground. Well, the war is over now, 
let's go and take a drink." I drank with the old Colonel 
and we settled our part of the fight then and there. 

Our regiment moved up the valley and went into 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. IO7 

camx) at Jacksboro, Tenn., where we w^ere soon after 
joined by General Pegram with the Fifth Tennessee and 
Eighth Confederate. Our business was to watch the 
Cumberland and Pound Gaps through which the enemy 
made his raids on our line, but we did not get to stay 
at this place very long, General Morgan was then on his 
Ohio raid and from the news we had from him he need- 
ed some help to get back home. Leaving the sick and 
camp equipage we started on a forced march for the Ohio 
river at some point above Cincinnati. Our route w^as a 
crooked one as can be seen by consulting a map and fol- 
lowing us through this trip. We crossed the Cumber- 
land river at Williamsburg and were again in old Ken- 
tucky. The first resistance was at London, where w^e 
found a small force which we soon ran out of town. Here 
we found a sutler's store. It is needless to tell the ''boys" 
what we did with it. Among other things we found a 
barrel of "muscat" wine, otherwise a concoction of drugs 
of different kinds which tasted good and appeared harm- 
less. We of the advance drank what w^e wanted and 
filled our canteens. We went on our way, taking a pull 
at the canteens now and then till we had emptied them, 
but felt no bad effect. This was in the forenoon. Along 
towards sunset we begun to feel good, by night were hil- 
arious and by next morning as drunk as "biled owls,'' 
and didn't get sober till next day. Lieutenant Colonel 
Nixon, who led the advance, was so drunk that Colonel 
8cott had him disarmed and placed under guard to keep 
him from doing himself and others harm. But it was all 
Tight when we got sober and we had a good laugh over 
it, but decided to be more careful how^ we drank muscat 
wine in the future. The next trouble we had was at Big 
Hill, where this same regiment nearly a year before had 



I03 REMINISCENCES 

met and stampeded Metcalf's cavalry. After driving 
away the force at Big Hill we advanced on to Richmond 
where we met with a strong resistance, but with a per- 
fect knowledge of the ground we were not long in dis- 
lodging them. When General Kirby Smith made his ad- 
vance into Kentucky the year before, after arranging his 
force, he sent Colonel Scott around to the rear of the Fed- 
eral line. The Colonel was on time and when General 
Smith drove the enemy out of his works, Colonel Scott 
was there to head him off and captured nearly his whole 
force. We made the same move on this occasion, but 
profiting by past experience the Federal commander took 
another route and escaped, for which we were not sorry, 
as we were in a hurry and had no time to fool with a lot 
of prisoners. When we arrivel at Richmond we got hold 
of a Louisville Journal containing an account of the cap- 
ture of Morgan three days before and also that they knew 
of our coming and were rushing troops down to capture 
us, too. Here was a state of affairs that we had not bar- 
gained for. Instead of helping some one else we were in 
a fix to need help ourselves. But we changed our course 
and took what appeared to be the shortest way out. As 
it turned out, we would have done better to have retraced 
our steps. We went from Richmond to Winchester and 
while we did not find any Yankees we found out that 
the}' were coming. We struck out for Irvine and about 
sundown it began to rain and it rained so hard that when 
we reached Red river we found it raging. We had to 
wait for the waters to recede and got across a little be- 
fore daylight the next morning. We captured a small 
wagon train about daylight, destroyed the wagons, pa- 
roled the guards and drivers and carried the mules along 
with us. Every delay was dangerous and we were grow- 




Sam Davis 

THE MARTYR. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. IO9 

ing a little uneasy. We were in a hurry to reach tlu? 
mountains and hoped to get into the gap near Irvine be- 
fore we had any more fighting to do. This wasn't to be, 
for we found at Irvine two regiments of infantry with two 
mountain howitzers guarding a large lot of government 
supplies. We couldn't afford to be very polite, so with- 
out any ceremony we charged them and drove them off, 
captured their cannon and all their stores, but unfortu- 
nately for us, they retreated into the very gap that we 
were making for. As it was fortified and we were so 
closely crowded in the rear we had no time to try to dis- 
lodge them as they would be reinforced before we could 
whip them, so we had to run for it. After helping our- 
selves to what we needed we set the rest on fire and with 
our two extra cannon took the first road that we came to. 
The Yankees were so certain that they would pocket us 
at Irvine that they had directed all their force except 
Wolford's cavalry, on that point. This saved us for the 
time, but Wolford had gone down toward Stanford to cut 
us off in that direction. Fortunately we had force 
enough to manage Wolford by himself and we hoped to 
outrun those behind us, so on we went through Crab Or- 
chard and Lancaster, and just before we reached Dix 
river began to have trouble. We had traveled three days 
and nights without sleep and were about ready to drop 
off our horses. 

A little before day, hoping that we had sufficient 
start to venture on a little rest and finding feed for our 
horses we fed and laid down. Before we had got settled 
the picket guns began to crack in the rear and on the 
right flank and we mounted and took up our weary march 
with running fight on our hands till we reached Dix river 
where we were forced to make a stand. We succeeded 

8 



1 10 REMINISCENCES 

in crossing our artillery and the bulk of the command, 
but were compelled to sacrifice Lieutenant Colonel Nixon 
and about three hundrv?d of our best men, which was our 
rear guard and captured only after a hand to hand fight 
in full view of the balance of the command which was 
powerless to help them and for whose safety they gave 
themselves. We tried to cover them with the artillery 
and for a while played six pieces over their heads, but a 
sharp ravine covered the Yankees and gave them a 
chance to form so close that we could not use our guns 
when they charged for fear of killing our own men. 
When the head of our column reached the top of the hill 
above Stanford it found the Yankees intrenched in the 
court house and other buildings, from which they poured 
a galling fire into us. Captain Marshall trained one of 
the howitzers on the courthouse and with a couple of 
shots of grape caused the enemy to scatter, when we 
charged into the town, capturing some of the soldiers and 
about two hundred wagons loaded with supplies for 
Cumberland gap, which we set on fire in short order, ex- 
cept a few^ loaded with provisions which happened to be 
hitched up and which we took along for our own use. As 
I now remember it, about three miles from Stanford the 
Somerset road enters the hilly country through a gap 
cut in the bluff. We were aiming to reach this point and 
Wolf ord on another road was trying to beat us to it. 
Both troops were in sight, but we had perhaps a quarter 
of a mile the start. I was with the artillery and it was 
in front. We were straining every nerve and so was 
Wolford. It was the most exciting scene I ever wit- 
nessed and the suspense was terrible. At last the head 
of our column reached the goal and a short distance up 
the hill on a kind of bench which seemed made for the 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 1 1 

purpose, Captain Marshall unlimbered his two little how 
itzers and quicker than I can tell it, was raining shells 
into the ranks of the enemy, utterly demoralizing them 
and ending the pursuit. In a previous chapter I spoke 
of two occasions on which these howitzers saved us from 
disaster and I have just written of both the times and 
both occurred on the same day. The one at Stan- 
ford, the other at Hall's Gap. We were safe for the time 
being and determined to get a rest if we died for it, so 
went into camp where we were and slept till next morn- 
ing. 

In order to cut us off from crossing the river at Stag 
all's where we expected to cross the Cumberland the 
enemy abandoned their pursuit and by a flank move aim- 
ed to beat us to the river. While their route was longer 
they were able to get near enough to strike us before we 
could get across, so when we arrived at Somerset we 
sent a small force out to cover our movements and made 
for Smith's ford, a deep and dangerous ford about six 
miles above the point we wanted to make the crossing. 
All the command except the force sent out to cover our 
movements, crossed over ahead of the artillery and wag- 
ons formed on the opposite shore. The horses to the rifle 
pieces had given out and we were using mules — twelve to 
each gun — to draw them, all got over safely till the last 
piece. The water was deep and swift, the mules tired 
and contrary, gave way to the current till they got out 
of the ford into deep water and were drowned, leaving 
one of our fine steel guns right in the track. As our 
bread wagons could not pass and the rear guard was be- 
ing driven in we were forced to abandon them which left 
us without a mouthful of anything to eat and in a country 
where nothing could be procured. I was in that rear 



112 REMINISCENCES 

guard and as we rode into the rivef the Yankees took pos- 
session of the high bluff on the north side of the river 
and rained down bullets on us like a hail storm. How 
any of us escaped I can't imagine, but strange to say, not 
a man or horse received a scratch. Our boys on the 
south side were doing all they could to protect us by 
keeping up a hot fire from their rifles, but did but little 
good and Captain Marshall could not get his guns in a 
position to reach the top of the bluff. We were back again 
in the mountains of East Tennessee with nothing to eat 
or feed on, ourselves and horses broke down with hun- 
ger and fatigue, five hundred of our best men in the 
hands of the enemy, dead, wounded and prisoners and 
not able to accomplish the work we set out to do ; namely, 
to assist Morgan, and a hundred miles from any point 
where we could get supplies. It will be supposed that 
we were very low-spirited, but it was not so. Outside 
the sorrow for our comrades we had lost, which every 
soldier knows, was tempered with a great deal of philos- 
ophy, no one could tell that we had met with disaster, 
but would suppose that we had been doing some hard 
service and were satisfied with the result. Well, to tell 
the truth that was the size of it right then. Taking the 
experience of the last few^ days we were exceedingly w^ell 
pleased that we were as well situated as we found our- 
selves and almost felt like congratulations were in order. 
We were safe from pursuit but were threatened with 
starvation. Our horses could get a little sustenance 
from the vegetation along the route, but we could afford 
them but little time to obtain it. In this condition we 
dragged our miserable march along for three days, beset 
without by bushwhackers and within with gnawing and 
relentless hunger. I can assure my readers that it was 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. I j ^ 

no picnic we were having- by any means. On the second 
afternoon we came upon three small mountain cows, 
shot them down and as fast as the skin could be taken 
off they were sliced up by the hungry men and eaten with- 
out salt and much of it in the condition of the Hebrew 
children when they came out of the fiery furnace. There 
was not enough to allay the hunger of all and it only 
served to render us more ravenous. Be it said to the 
credit of the men that although there was not enough 
and every one who could get to it helped himself, not a 
man failed to get a portion, as the lucky ones divided 
with those who had none, giving all a taste. 

Our line of march led us again through Montgomery 
and Wartburg which we reached on the evening of the 
Ihird day £^nd camped with our Swiss friends. About fe 
mile from Montgomery, at the very top of our last long 
ch'mb, in the attempt to mount the last big rock my noble 
lio'se fell exhausted and w^as unable to rise. The com- 
mand moved on, and, notwithstanding the danger from 
bushwhackers, I determined to stay with him. I went 
to a cabin not far off and found an old one-armed Prus- 
Miau soldier living with his wife and daughter. They 
gave me a warm welcome, a bucket of cold spring water 
an i a sheaf of oats for my horse and boiled a large pot of 
poiatoes for me. I took the water and oats to my horse 
and I don't think I eveir did an act of kindness for man 
or beast that was accepted with as much intelligent 
gratitude as was shown by this poor horse. It seemed 
that he could neither eat nor drink for showing his 
thankfulness. He would talk in his way and rub his 
head against me and showed by every way possible that 
he was truly grateful which so affected me that — I am 
not ashamed to say it — I cried, and it Avas no whimpei 



I J 4 REMINISCENCES 

either, for I cried right. Leaving'my horse to rest and 
refresh himself I went back to the cabin and found the 
potatoes done, in a wooden trencher on the table by the 
side of the salt gourd. The daughter brought a pitcher 
of milk, good and cold, from the spring house, and I fell 
to work with a vengeance. I need not say that I enjoyed 
that supper. The memory still clings to me and I like 
sweet milk and Irish potatoes to this day. In the mean- 
time my horse had rested sufficiently to be able to get on 
his feet and tired as he was, started to follow on. As he 
came up to the cabin I hailed him and w^e had another 
love feast. Gathering up my saddle and other things I 
started on foot to camp, with no other companion but 
my horse, and got in about ten o'clock at night utterly 
tired out. 

We camped at Wartburg several days and rested 
ourselves and horses. Our 8wiss friends were very clev- 
er to us and we enjoyed our stay as well as possible under 
the circumstances. The Wartburgians used rye bread 
altogether and we could get nothing else. But few of 
us were fond of it and longed for some cornmeal or wheat 
flour. By some means we secured some flour, but as we 
had no cooking utensils and had not learned to use a 
ramrod for a skillet, we were no better off than before, 
as our Swiss friends did not know how to bake anything 
but rye bread which they bake in their earthen bake 
ovens once a week. I had made the acquaintance of an 
old lady who could speak a little English so I took our 
batch of flour to her to bake for me. I thought I had 
made her understand how to make the dough and sup- 
posed she would know how to bake in the stove. Know- 
ing that they used no lard in making their rye bread 
I told her to put some ^'shortenin' -' in this. She could 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 1 5 

not understand what I meant by "shortenin'," so 1 told 
her it was grease, which she understood. Now such a 
thing as a four-legged hog was not known at Wartburg 
— and we didn't find any two-legged ones like we found 
at some other places — so the old lady put her own con- 
struction on my request and did her best to comply. A 
few hours after when I went after the bread I found that 
she had fried the whole thing in mutton tallow and it 
not the freshest. By a supreme effort I kept my face 
straight, paid and thanked her cordially and rushed for 
camp. As soon as T could get out of her sight I laid 
down and laughed till my sides were sore and when I 
turned the contents of the sack out before my messmates 
and they fully comprehended the situation they set up 
such a roar of laughter as to call the attention of the 
whole regiment to us and when it became known 
throughout the regiment the boys w^ent wild and a spec- 
tator coming suddenly on the scene would haye sup- 
posed he had run onto an immense camp of lunatics. This 
was the standing joke of the regiment for many a day and 
when we were low spirited it was only necessary for some 
one to shout "grease" to put everybody in a good humor. 
Fortunately none of our men could talk their language 
and our friends at Wartburg remained in ignorance of 
the cause of the mirth and I would have been sorry had 
they found it out. God bless the old lady, she did the 
best she could for our comfort and the only trouble was 
that she didn't rightly understand what I meant by 
"shortenin'." 

But we haye now got rested and had our horses shod 
and must move on. Eosencrans has begun to advance 
and Bragg to retreat. The enemy have possession of 
Knoxville and Chattanooga and the East Tennessee and 



Il6 REMINISCENCES 

Virginia railroad so we are behind his lines and will 
probably have trouble to get out. This time we cross 
Clinch river at Clinton and make our way to the French 
Broad river some distance above Loudon where we swam 
our horses across, using a scow that had escaped the gen- 
eral destruction to ferry our artillery, saddles and other 
equipments and ourselves. The manner of crossing our 
horses was for two men in a canoe — which we secured — 
to lead a horse into the water behind the canoe when we 
would drive fifty or more of our horses, loose, after them. 
As soon as the horses found themselves in deep w^ater 
they would strike out after their leader and thus reach 
the other side. In this way we got everything across 
without accident or loss. On the first trip a large "nick 
tail" bay horse was used as the leader and he was the 
best swimmer I ever saw and enjoyed the water greatly. 
He swam with his chin resting on the stern of the canoe 
and his body half out of the water. After reaching the 
other shore he was turned loose with the rest ,the canoe 
turned back for another trip when he plunged in and fol- 
low^ed over and then came back as the leader of the next 
gang. He kept this up till he had led eA^ery horse and 
mule — including Lumpki — over and seemed ready to take 
them back if necessary. 

We were now^ in Blount county, the richest county in 
East Tennessee, and found an abundance to eat and feed 
on. We camped close to a mill and had an abundance 
of new wheat flour. There was a great amount of what 
is known on the farm as ''sick wheat." It is a fungus 
that is on the grain, does not change its appearance, can 
only be detected with a microscope. Flour made from it 
looks as well as any other, but it makes those who eat it 
so sick that they pray to die. Our miller had discovered 
it after grinding some and put himself on guard against 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 1 7 

it SO that the flour we got was pure. He had put the 
'sick'' flour off in an outhouse to get it out of the way 
and took no pains to secure it. Now we had one mess 
in our company that would steal anything whether they 
needed it or not, just to keep their hand in; so they 
slipped over that night and stole a lot of this flour. You 
can imagine their condition after eating it. They got 
over it but looked like they had been through a bad 
case of cholera. This sick wheat played its hand with 
the Yankees as we afterward learned. Following us into 
the country they took possession of the mill, gathered up 
all the wheat and put the mill to work. The first install- 
ment of flour was sent to Loudon and Cleaveland, where 
they had their forces. It turned both places into hos- 
pitals. I learn that they accused the miller of putting- 
poison in the wheat, sent him to prison and applied the 
torch to all his property. It would have been nice for 
us if we could have had ^^sick" wheat for the Yankees all 
over the ^^outh. While it didn't kill, it put them past 
fighting. 

^^Buckashee" and I took a ride around the neighbor- 
hood to get an idea of the kind of country we were in and 
came upon a nice farmhouse with a lot of bee-hives in 
the front yard. We had had no honey since leaving Tin- 
ker Dave's country and were honey hungry, so called 
and offered to buy some. The old man met us with a 
blunt and abusive refusal. We told him he had better 
sell to us as we had some men in camp who would steal it. 
He pointed to a big bull dog chained in the back yard and 
told us that he was loosed of a night and said he, "if you 
fellows can get any of that honey you are w^elcome to it," 
coupling his remarks with several abusive epithets. 
Most of the people in Blount county were loyal to the 
South, but this old "rooster" was a rabid Unionist, what 



Il8 REMINISCENCES 

would now be called an ^'offensive j)artisan,'- so we deter- 
mined to have some of that honey. We noticed that the 
dog was well fed and had a kennel to sleep in back near 
the kitchen while the bees Avere in the corner of the front 
yard with the house between them and the dog. While 
talking to the old man we selected the gum we wanted 
and went into camp. Armed with a tin bucket apiece at 
10 o'clock that night, Buckashee, Garrett, Billy Hughes 
and myself quietly left camp and went after that honey. 
Arriving at our destination we hitched our horses in a 
thicket a hundred yards away and quietly made our way 
to the house. The arrangement was for me to get into 
the yard and hand the beegum over the fence to Garrett 
and Buckashee while Billy stood ready to shoot the dog 
if necessary. We all got to our places, but when I tried 
to raise the gum I found that the bees had waxed it to 
the platform and I had to jar it loose. When it let go 
there was a report loud enough, it seemed to me, to wake 
the dead. It woke the dog, but before he could get to me 
I had the beegum and myself both over the fence. Buck- 
ashee and Garrett grabbed it by the projecting top and 
ran for the thicket, dropping it to the ground every few 
steps by way of resting themselves, by which the bees 
were jarred out, and when we opened the gum there 
wasn't a dozen bees in it and it was full of as fine honey 
as we ever ate. The old man jumped out of bed, ran 
to the door and hissed his dog on, but we were safe and 
eating honey. The next day some of the boys went out 
and were treated politely by the old man who was very 
willing to sell them anything they wanted and still 
thinks — if alive — that the "thieving mess" in our com- 
pany got his honey, and J expect that mess had to shoul- 
der many such things that it was not guilty of. So much 
for a reputation. ^ 




CHAPTER IX. 



THE armies had lain quiet for a long time and with 
the exception of a few cavalry engagements noth- 
ing had been done since the battle of Murfreesboro. Ros- 
ecrans was the Federal General in charge in this depart- 
ment and began to concentrate his forces for a general 
forward Jiiovement. Bragg was at Tullahoma with his 
line facing north and extending to Knoxville, where Gen- 
eral Biickner was stationed with a force of about 6,000 
men. Burnside was in Eastern Kentucky with a large 
force ready to move through Cumberland Gap and at- 
tack Bragg's right. AVe held the gap with a small force, 
but as it was well fortified it was safe from direct attack. 
Burnside rigged up a train of pack mules and sent them 
with 6,000 of his men across the mountain through one of 
the smaller gaps, got in the rear of our forces and cut 
them off from their supplies which forced them to sur- 
render opening the way for Burnside to rush his whole 
force through, forcing Buckner to evacuate Knox- 
ville. General Buckner fell back to Loudon, then to 
Cleveland and on down the railroad toward Chattanooga 
and we fell in behind him to cover his retreat, and while 
engaged in this business had several little scraps, but 
compared with what we had afterward, are not worth 
notice. While these movements were going on on the 
right of our line, our left was getting stirred up, too. 
Rosecranz began a fiank movement with such force as to 



120 REMINISCENCES 

cause Bragg to leave Tullahoma and^fall back to Chatta- 
nooga where he intended to concentrate all his force and 
give battle. While this is a good place to fight, if the 
other fellow runs on you, it is, owing to the formation 
of the mountains and valleys, easily flanked from both 
sides and this is what Rosecrans proceeded to do and 
forced Bragg to withdraw to Ringgold, where there was 
a natural gateway through which the enemy had to pass 
in order to get farther South. About the last days of 
August all of Bragg's forces were withdrawn from Chat- 
tanooga except a small cavalry brigade which was left 
as a post of observation. The situation on the 10th of 
September was about as follows: Bragg's army at Lee 
& Gordon Mills and Ringgold waiting for Longstreet's 
corps from Lee's army to arrive, and Rosecrans rushing 
on his forces from the Hiawassee on the east and through 
Chattanooga, McLemore cove, Stevens, Cooper's and 
Winston's gaps on the west in a desperate effort to crush 
Bragg before his reinforcements arrived. How anxious- 
ly we looked and waited for Longstreet and how we 
w^orked and fought to delay the crash, no one but us can 
imagine. 

On the 19th our reinforcements arrived and as the 
8,000 of Lee's pets marched up and took their place in line 
the "rebel yell' woke the echoes of the Chickamauga 
woods, infused new ardor into the whole of our army 
and caused every man to feel that the day was won. Al- 
though it was known that we, as usual, had to fight 
against large odds, all felt sanguine of victory. I have 
no doubt that this same confidence in themselves, their 
firm faith in the justice of their cause and its final tri- 
umph was the reason the Southern soldier was able to 
perform such heroic deeds and snatch victory from the 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 121 

very face of defeat. The official report of the numbers 
engaged in this battle are: Rosecrans, total, 64,391; 
Bragg, total, 47,322; Kosecrans- excess, 17,071, a right 
smart little army in itself. 

There were two things that all soldiers — especially 
those who were in prison — had to contend with; gray- 
backs, more familiarly known as lice and the Lincoln 
mange, better known at home as itch. While in prison 
I got both, but when I got home where I could change 
clothes and keep clean T got rid of the former, but the 
latter was a different thing. It enlisted for seven years. 
Of course everybody had a cure and of course none of 
them cured it. While in the Tennessee mountains I met 
an old woman who had raised a family of eighteen chil- 
dren and steered them safely through the mumps, mea- 
sles, itch and the other ills, and she advised me to use 
soft soap. I procured the soap — and it was soft — pro- 
ceeded to the creek, stripped and scratched till I was as 
raw as a beefsteak and bleeding all over and then ap- 
plied the soap. Whew! but it was hot. After washing 
thoroughly I left a thin lather all over my body and put 
on my clothes. I felt more comfortable than I had for 
three months and in a few days I was thoroughly healed. 
In about a month it appeared again when I again applied 
the remedy with satisfactory result. I kept driving the 
poison back into my system until at last it made its ap 
pearance in the shape of big blood boils and when the 
command reached Ringgold, about three days before the 
battle of Chickamauga, two of these boils were begin- 
ning to develop, and as boils are always in the wrong' 
place I need not say that these were located so as to pre- 
vent me from riding. 

At Ringgold I got back to my old company and with 



122 REMINISCENCES 

the home boys, whom I had not s&en since the 13th of 
May, 1862, when I was captured. Needless to say that 
the pleasure was mutual. But we had but little time for 
congratulation. Everything was going to the front. 
As I could not ride I loaned my horse to Felix Jewel — his 
being lame — and off they went with General Forest, to 
add fresh laurels to their already brilliant record. Ev- 
ery man who could walk and carry a gun was sent to the 
front and put in line. I hunted up the Kentucky brigade, 
then commanded by our old Colonel Helm, and fell in. 
The plan was to begin this battle on the 18th, but on ac- 
count of the condition of the roads and the delay of Long- 
street it was put off to the next day and as Longstreet did 
not get into the fight till the 20th, the first daj^'s fighting 
was done with 33,583 men on our side. The fighting com- 
menced on the right of our line and we drove the enemy 
back gradually until night called a halt, we lay down on 
the battlefield to wait for daylight, when the battle was 
to be renewed. Owing to some unknown cause the move 
was not made till ten o'clock in the forenoon and the 
enemy was given time to mass his forces. For a long 
time after the fight opened the result seemed doubtful. 
Our boys didn't seem to get off right someway. The 
Yankees repulsed every charge and we lost many good 
men, but along about three in the afternoon our army 
gathered itself together for one mighty effort and hurled 
itself on the enemy with an impetus that was irresistible. 
Their line began to break up and by nightfall we had 
them utterly routed and ended one of the most important 
battles of the war; one of untold advantage to us, if we 
could have had the means to follow up our victory. With 
^ small force of fresh men, it was possible to have cap- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 23 

tiued the remnant of Koseerans' army and re-established 
our lines in Kentnekv. But fate decreed otherwise, 

"Was 3'ou scared?" I was scared and so was every 
other man in Bragg's army who had sense enough to keep 
out of a lunatic asylum, but it did no good, we had to 
face the music no matter how inharmonious it sounded. 
On all sides strong and brave men were seen quaking 
and with blanched cheeks, for all knew that a great bat- 
tle was on and no one knew what was in store for him. 
When "Marse Frank,'' ((leneral Cheatham) rode down 
in front of the line, scanning every point with his eagle 
eye, we all tried to read his face and gather some hope, 
but saw^ nothing encouraging. Then the fiery, iron-heart- 
ed Bate came dashing along, gi^ ing orders here and there 
and w^e kr.ew that we had hot work ahead. Finally our 
own General Ben Hardin Helm rode down the line with 
fatherly care and solicitude pictured on every feature, ad- 
dressing us by name (for he knew nearly every man in 
his command) and speaking encouraging words, exhorted 
us to remember that we were Kentuekians and were ex- 
pected to sustain the reputation of our State on this field. 
How well the Orphans complied with expectations is at- 
tested by the number of killed and wounded on its part 
of the field and among the thickest of the former, its own 
beloved Helm. Among those we left for dead were Billy 
Greenwell, shot through the head, Bob Marshall, through 
the lungs, and Sam Clements, through the face. These 
were Union county boys and wouldn't stay killed. They 
all got over it. All are living today and appar- 
ently as full of patriotism as they were thirty- 
two years ago. By the way, the first five years 
after the war took off numbers of our boys who came 
home in apparent good health. They were so accustomed 



124 REMINISCENCES 

to the exposure and privation that they could not stand 
the luxuries and comforts of home. Among those of 
Union county boys who fell victims to the change I recall 
Alex Barrett, Ben Riney and John B. Spalding; all brave 
and gallant men and soldiers who had served their cause 
faithfully from the beginning to the end. We parted 
with them in sorrow, but their memory is cherished and 
kept green in the hearts of those of us who have survived. 
A few^ more years and we will all be summoned to the 
final reunion and oh! What unspeakable joy if we shall 
meet again and pass in review before the God of battles 
and hear the welcome plaudit, "well done." 

But I have digressed and Forest, with his custom- 
ary talent for raising a racket, has gone around on the 
right of the line, tackled Kilpatrick and opened the way 
for the biggest row of the season. He soon found that 
he had "bit off more than he could chaw" and sent for 
General Walker to help him. General Walker had his 
friends and they had theirs, and after all got into it, there 
was the biggest "mess" you ever saw. A dog fight in the 
old three days election times wasn't a "patchin." The 
ball opened right early on the morning of the 19th of Sep- 
tember and brigade after brigade became engaged until 
there were two solid walls of tire ten miles long, opposing 
each other, breathing death and destruction to brave and 
noble men who freely gave their lives to vindicate a prin- 
ciple. No pen can describe the battle of Chickamauga. 
The desultory firing on the right as the troops were tak- 
ing position w as the first intimation that the battle had 
begun, but soon it gathered force and like a great storm 
approached nearer and nearer till we, too, were ordered 
forward to take part in the hurricane and add our might 
to the furious wave of destruction which was sweeping 




Maj. Robert Cobb, 

COBBS BATTERY. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



125 



over the field. My experience had been as a cavalryman 
and while it was not unusual for us to have a ''scrap'* 
every day, and sometimes several of them, we had never 
been called on to engage in a regular bull dog fight. 
About the time we began to move forward I was very 
much of the opinion that if the foolishness wasn't stop- 
ped somebody would get hurt. Every old soldier knows 
what a tension is drawn on the nerves w^hen the skirmish 
line begins to drop in its scattering bullets. How wick- 
ed they sound as they come in with their ''spat" and now 
and then strike some unfortunate with a thud that 
sounds horrible in the extreme, and now and then a shell 
comes along with its terrible scream, ^'Johnnie w^har is 
ye," and you feel like you want to be at home with moth- 
er. Every soldier knows that this is the trying moment. 
Our line began to show some signs of confusion and 
things looked very uncertain when General Helm gave 
the order, ^'forward," '^steady men," "charge," every man 
sprang forward with that wonderful "yell" and the scare 
was over. From then till the end of the fight men never 
thought of danger, but only of success and the desperate 
struggle proved that both sides were prompted by the 
same motive. We were successful from the start on our 
part of the line, but the troops on our left w^ere not so 
fortunate or we would have ended the fight in one day. 
After Longstreet got in line we drove both wings till we 
had their line in the shape of a V. with Thomas holding 
the point. Late in the afternoon there was a lull in the 
noise of the combat. Silence, broken only by an occa- 
sional cannon, reigned along the whole line. Smoke and 
dust were so thick that objects could be seen only a few^ 
yards off. We were ordered forward. The command 
was passed along in whispers, and we moved quietly for- 
9 



1 26 REMINISCENCES 

ward expecting to meet the enemiF tning to surprise us 
and felt that truly we Wvn^e passing through the ''Valley 
of the shadow of death," unlike the psalmist we did "fear 
evil" very much. But the Yankees hadn't left their line 
and we succeeded in getting close onto them before we 
were discovered, when we sprang at them with that old 
"rebel yell" from thirty thousand throats and before they 
could recover from the surprise we had them routed and 
going north at a lively gait with Forest and Wheeler 
pushing them along from behind. There was one Yan- 
kee in the lot who was too stubborn, too lazy or too tired 
to run as fast as the rest. This was General Thomas. 
He acted just like a country dog in town when the town 
dogs get after him. We would dash at him and he would 
turn around and growl at us. We wanted him to go fas- 
ter and he wanted to get away, but we did not want to 
jump on him and he hoped we w^ouldn't, so we growled 
at and dared each other till night came on and gave him 
a chance to retreat. He was glad to get off and we were 
glad he went. Thousands of gallant deeds were per- 
formed by men and officers on these two days but this 
space is too limited to record more than one. Joe R. Jon- 
igan of our company was a very modest and timid man 
and would blush to the ears if a pretty girl spoke to him, 
yet on the evening of the 20th he ran down and captured 
.eleven of the enemy's cavalrymen all by himself. It may 
be asked how^ he could do it? Well; he was like the Irish- 
men, "he surrounded them," and those who were in the 
battle will understand why he could do it. This battle 
was fought in hot weather, the dust deep everywhere and 
it takes no stretch of the imagination to believe that we 
suffered with the exertion we had to put forth. We had 
to breathe the dust and smoke which created a burning 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 27 

thirst. Of coiii'se we emptied our canteens the first day, 
our only water supply was Chickamauga creek which 
was by nightfall well mixed with the blood of our com- 
rades, but we had to drink it. You young people while 
sipping your ice water and spiked lemonade, just remem- 
ber what your ancestors had to endure in order to make 
America the "land of the free" and the greatest people 
on earth, and let this knowledge inspire you to a higher 
patriotism and be ready to do battle for your country and 
the right and remember that we made the third chapter 
of our history and expect posterity to add the other chap- 
ters to a record of noble deeds performed in the cause of 
political and religious liberty. 

The battle was won, but with a terrible loss to both 
armies. For days we were engaged in caring for the 
wounded and burying the dead. Trenches were dug and 
as long as we could handle them the bodies of friend and 
foe w^ere piled together, but the weather being very warm 
they became so badly decomposed that we could only 
bury them where they lay. A hole was dug by the side 
of the body and it rolled in and covered, not very deep at 
best, while numbers were not buried at all, because it was 
impossible. 

Such are the horrors of war and at this day I advise 
my young readers to do a good deal of compromising be- 
fore they get mad enough to fight. I was young once 
myself and know how keen young men are to distinguish 
themselves and after my experience I can assure you that 
war is the best extinguisher known. So if you want to 
live long and die honored select some peaceful avocation 
and apply yourself earnestly to it; for I tell you war is 
risky and should you live through and get licked, you 
won't have anybody to give you a pension. 



J 28 REMINISCENCES 

We captured in this battle sixty pieces of artillery, 
thousands of small arms, a great quantity of equipage 
and accroutrements and 8,000 prisoners. I was detailed 
to assist in enrolling the prisoners' names prior to send- 
ing them to prison. On my way to my post of duty I was 
hailed — by name — by one of the prisoners and found it to 
be Charley Carter, an Irishman, and a member of an In- 
diana regiment who had been kind to Gardiner and me 
wiien prisoners at Columbia, Tenn. He said he was hun- 
gry, so I stepped across the street and inyested the last 
|5 bill I had in boiled beef and bakers bread, (don't think 
it was a wagon load boys it was only a good armful), and 
carried it over to Carter and told him that it was the 
bread he had cast on the waters in the days gone by, to 
help himself and divide with his friends. All his Irish 
tnnotion jumped to his throat and eyes and as soon as he 
could speak he abused himself roundly for enlisting to 
fight people who could be so generous and his thanks, 
poured out from the fullness of his heart, well repaid me 
for my five dollar bill. 

Among the prisoners to be enrolled was a regiment 
of Dutch only a few weeks from the fatherland and none 
of them could speak a word of English. I, with an inter- 
preter, was assigned to this regiment and of all the funny 
things I ever did. my attempt at spelling their names 
takes the cake. Most of their names contained from ten 
to twenty syllables and I could no more pronounce than 
spell them, so aimed to catch the sound and after writing 
something like it I would finish out with a crooked mark 
proportioned to the length of the name. Poor fellows, 
they did not know what I wrote nor did I, and if the pris- 
on clerk did no better than I, their friends — if they had 
any — had a poor show to trace them. In this lot was a 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 29 

fine stalwart fellow wbo seemed to be quite intelligent 
and my interpreter engaged him in conversation, eliciting 
the information that he was only twenty days from Castle 
Garden. I had the interpreter ask him what he was 
fighting for and his answer struck me so forcibly that T 
have remembered it since. With a business like prompt- 
ness and a matter of course look, ^'Dreizehn Thaller die 
monaf (thirteen dollar a month), he answered. I need 
not comment; the answer, I am sure, was correct. 

After burying the dead and reorganizing his army, 
Bragg moved his line forward and invested Chattanooga. 
He took possession of Lookout Mountain, Missionary 
Ridge and the Tennessee river at Bridgeport, cutting off 
Rosencrans from his base of supplies, forcing him to de- 
pend on wagons which had to be hauled a long distance 
over the mountains exposed to the raids made by our 
cavalry. Forest was sent around by the enemy's left and 
Wheeler by his right flank and they succeeded in destroy- 
ing much of his supplies and closed his line entirely. 
Bragg had Rosecrans in the hole and was straving him 
out when Grant was placed in command of the depart- 
ment and with a force from Vicksburg and Virginia 
marched to Rosecrans' relief, drove our cavalry out of 
middle Tennessee and our small force from Bridgeport 
and opened up his line of supplies once more. But for 
Grant's interference we would, in a few days, have had a 
Chattanooga to give them for their Vicksburg. General 
Grant in his report says: 

"The artillery horses and mules had become so re- 
duced by starvation that they could not have been relied 
on for moving anj^thing. An attempt at retreat must 
have been with men alone and with such supplies as they 
could carry. A retreat would have been almost certain 



J 30 REMINISCENCES 

annihilation, for the enemy, occupying positions within 
gunshot of and overlooking our ver^^ fortifications, would 
unquestionably have pursued our retreating forces. Al- 
ready more than ten thousand, animals had perished in 
supplying half rations to the troops by the long and 
tedious route from Stevenson and Bridgeport to Chatta- 
nooga over Waldrons Ridge. They could not have been 
supplied another week." 

So you see that it was all the fault of General Grant. 
It seems that he was always interfering with our arrange- 
ments and couldn't stay at home and attend to his own 
business. 

But I must now go back a little. You remember 
that I went into the battle of Chickamauga accompanied 
by two boils. Well during the excitment I forgot them^ 
only when I sat down, and by the time the excitement 
was over they had disgorged and healed, but fifteen oth- 
ers of the same family i^ut in their appearance and this 
was about fourteen more than I could support comforta- 
bly on the small means at my disposal. They annoyed 
and deviled me until they made life a burden. They 
would not let me sit down nor lie down — unless I laid 
face downw^ard. They gave me no peace or rest, day or 
night, and to add to my misery thej kept coming until 
their number ran up to the sixties and none of them were 
pigmies, but all great big soft healthy fellows, I imagine 
like Job was afflicted with. As I was no good for service 
I was sent to Cherokee Springs, where I drank mineral 
water, nursed my pets and suffered for six weeks. I had 
a severe experience, but when 1 did get over it I was over 
it. The itch never broke out on me any more and I soon 
got as fat as a hog, although rations were scarce. My 
blood was pure "you know." Along toward the middle 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 131 

of November I again got able for duty and joined my 
command which had returned from the middle Tennessee 
raid and was guarding the right flank of Bragg's line at 
Missionary Ridge. Rosencrans had been reinforced by 
about ten thousand troofjs from Vicksburg, the 11th and 
12th army corps from Virginia under Hooker and a large 
force from IMemphis under Sherman and on the 23d of 
November the enemy's force numbered about fifty thou- 
sand of all arms. On the other hand Bragg had sent 
Longstreet back to Virginia via Knoxville, Hardee to 
relieve Vicksburg and other forces to other points till 
his whole force to hold a line forty miles long was re 
duced to about thirteen thousand infantry and eight 
thousand cavalry. Instead of an avjuy Bragg had only 
a small outpost, but it was the best the Confederacy 
could do and he had to make the best of it. 

While, for some unknown cause, Bragg didn't like 
Kentuckians and as a matter of course, for this reason, 
we did not like Bragg, yet there was a certain idea pre- 
vailing that he knew what to do and whom he could trust 
to do it, and while neither had any love for the other 
each respected the other and acted in concert for the 
chief good. And then Bragg and Grant were parallels, 
neither thought of retreat and neither provided for such 
a contingency. Although Kentuckians feel a certain 
prejudice against General Bragg, now that the war is 
over and we have had time to review^ its events dispas- 
sionately, I often think by transposing names and oppor- 
tunities, it could have been Bragg instead of Grant who 
would have received the plaudits of our nation today. 
Circumstances make men. I can't like Bragg today, in 
one sense of the word, but I can give him the credit of 



132 REMINISCENCES 

being a great General and, with th^ proper ojiportunity, 
he would have proven it. 

Let us at this day, my old Kentucky comrades, re- 
vere his memory as one of our great men. Although we 
may have thought that he demanded more of us than he 
did of others, let us, at the same time, flatter ourselves 
w^ith the belief that he knew who to depend on for des- 
perate service and feel proud that the call was not in 
vain. 



$ 


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¥^^A 


-it: 


L;^"^ 


fe*. 



Jefferson Davis, 

PRESIDENT OP THE CONFEDERACY. 



CHAPTER X. 

AS General Grant brought up his forces General Bragg 
drew in his lines and concentrated all his force on 
Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge and shortened 
Ijis line as much as possible, but owing to scarcity of 
troops his line was necessarily very thin. He placed his 
strongest force on Missionary Ridge, this being a more 
important point than Lookout, but the best he could do 
was to scatter his men along the ridge from twenty to 
thirty feet apart, a mere skirmish line, as all soldiers 
know. On the morning of the 25th of November, under 
cover of a thick fog, General Hooker, with a strong 
force, succeeded in climbing Lookout Mountain undis- 
covered until within a few rods of our forces and with a 
rush captured our position with very little bloodshed on 
either side. Interest at once centered on Missionary 
Ridge and we knew that it would not be long till the 
struggle for its possession would begin. General Sher 
man, who had assumed command of this army, moved up 
his whole force to the foot of the ridge and prepared for 
the onslaught. Our brigade of cavalry, composed of the 
1st, 2d and 9th Kentucky regiments and the 2d Kentucky 
(Dortch's) battalion, was on the extreme right of line near 
the foot of the hill skirmishing with Sherman's forces, 
who were trying to effect the crossing of a large creek 
w^hich ran between us. We succeeded by hot work in 
keeping them on their side till about four o'clock in the 



1 34 REMINISCENCES 

afternoon when their whole line nvas advanced at a 
charge and broke throngh our position. We were hold- 
ing in check the force in front of our brigade when with- 
out any w^arning the bullets began to rain dowm on us 
from our left and rear producing a very demoralizing ef- 
fect. We didn't stay there any longer. It was hot 
enough with the bullets coming from one side, but when 
they came from both sides — well I have never seen any 
men who could stand it long — w^e skeedaddled back over 
the hill, mounted our horses and prepared to follow the 
balance of our forces which were in full retreat, and co^- 
er the retreat to the best of our ability. Everything was 
in confusion among the Yankees as well as ourselves. 
Flushed with an easy victory they rushed on with very 
little order and as a consequence got some of themselves 
killed and gave us a better chance to get away. Chicka- 
mauga creek drains the valley in the rear of Missionary 
Eidge and is a stream that can be crossed only at certain 
places. There were a few fords and bridges, the latter 
built by the army, generally covered with logs and dirt 
and not easy to burn. Our line of retreat led over one of 
these bridges and as we neared it we found that a force 
of the enemy had slipped in between us and our infantry 
and was in possession. We knew if we hesitated we were 
lost. There was only one course to pursue and we took 
it. With the same old yell that could be heard when vic- 
tory perched on our banners w^e went through those Yan- 
kees like a rabbit through a rye field. It was always 
against our principles, when on a retreat, to leave a 
bridge standing after we had crossed it, so we stopped 
and tried to burn this one, but it was so hard to set fire 
and the Yankees got so thick that we had to leave it. This 
was a source of regret all the balance of the war and 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



135 



stands out as onr only failure in this line during our 
whole service. Night had now corae on and gave us a 
rest till next day, which we were glad to take every ad- 
vantage of, and we made the most of it for we knew there 
were squally times ahead and could form no idea of their 
magnitude. 

We who had the fortune, or misfortune, to be on top 
of Missionary Ridge on the forenoon of November 25thy 
1863, witnessed one of the grandest military pageants 
ever seen from one point of view. From early morning 
till Sherman's lines were formed brigades, divisions and 
corps of his troops were moving across the valley and 
over the opposite hills in long blue lines with arms glis- 
tening in the sunshine, halting here and there till there 
was one long blue living line in plain view in the order of 
a dress parade. Everything was calm and peaceful and 
although we knew that this line would soon be hurled at 
us with death dealing force we could not withhold excla- 
mations of admiration. But all this was ruthlessly dis- 
pelled in a few short hours and where peace now reigned 
turmoil and strife were soon to hold their sway, and 
where now was hope and buoyancy, was soon to be blood, 
death and despair. 

Hooker had begun to hammer away on the left of our 
line when Sherman moved up the bulk of his force in 
front of our centre and captured our rifle pits at the foot 
of the ridge. Under this cover he formed three battle 
lines, one behind the other, and moved forward up the 
ridge and although our artillery poured grape and canis- 
ter into them and our infantry did all that could be done 
they pressed on and by sheer force of numbers drove our 
thin line from the hill. This was a wonderful charge and 
if the men who made it did not know our weakness it cer- 



1 36 REMINISCENCES 

tainly deserves to be ranked with the bravest deeds of 
history. With the force we should have had to compete 
with Sherman's army as it then was we could and would 
have annihilated it; as it was with only a thin straggling 
line we killed and wounded over fifty-five hundred of 
them in the two days fighting around Chattanooga, equal 
to one-fourth of our fighting force. Don't understand me 
to complain of having to fight such odds; oh no, we were 
accustomed to doing that, but I just want to show you as 
I go along what men can do when they try and what some 
men did do during our late war; and you, my ^'Yankee" 
brother, don't think that I aim to disparage your bravery. 
No indeed, you proved that on too many hotly contested 
fields, but I did feel sorry that you had no more sense 
than to run on us when you stood such a good chance to 
get hurt. Well, we learn't you how to fight, but failed to 
learn you how to eat goobers. 

Some of my young friends may think that the caval- 
ry had a good easy time and a heap of fun capturing Sut- 
ler's stores and Avagon trains burning bridges and skylark- 
ing around seeing the country generally. While this may 
have been true of some of the boys it was not for our bri- 
gade. We were indeed orphans and had no fixed place 
in the army. From the battle of Chickamauga till the 
siege of Atlanta we were detached from the cavalry arm 
of the service and acted as eyes and ears for the infantry. 
We stood picket for them day and night, protected them 
from flank movements by the enemy, did all their scout- 
ing and furnished all information to headquarters. Often 
we would fight all day on the left flank and at night 
march twenty or thirtj^ miles and go to fighting next 
morning on the other flank of our army and vice versa, 
never knowing a moment of rest. Often separated from 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. I -.j 

our supplies aud forced to go huugry or capture a supply 
traiu from the enemy. We were hacked about hither aud 
yonder, under the command of this and that Colonel or 
General, with no one interested in us or our welfare and 
subject to the orders of any oflicer who might wish to use 
us. It is not surprising that we at last showed some 
signs of insubordination, were little better than a mob. 
If we hadn't stopped Sherman at Ringgold Gap, Wil- 
liam- s Kentucky brigade might have lost the opportunity 
of making the glorious record that it is entitled to. 

After the battle of Chickamauga General Longstreet 
took what remained of his corps and started back to Vir- 
ginia via Knoxville. Here he found Burnside with about 
six thousand men occupying the fortifications. Owing to 
a lack of suitable artillery, Longstreet was unable to cap- 
ture or drive out the enemy and laid siege to the place, 
with a fair show of starving him out, but when Sherman 
had driven us from Missionary Ridge he detached a large 
force and sent it to relieve Burnside. Matters were about 
to grow serious for Longstreet and he pulled up stakes 
and went on back to Lee's army. When Sherman sent 
this force to Knoxville it eased the pressure on us some 
but he still had enough men left to eat up Bragg's army 
if they could have got hold of us in a good open jdace. 
But we wasn't asleep and gave them many a hard tussle 
in the next few days and made them mighty glad to quit 
before w^e got through with them. On the morning after 
^he retreat from Missionary Ridge, Sherman began to 
press us slowly in front and at the same time send his 
forces around our flank in the endeavor to drive us from 
the railroad and away from our base of supplies. We 
skirmished with him and fell back to the range of hills 
at Chickamauga station where Bragg prepared to make 



138 



REMINISCENCES 



a stand. After our lines were formed everything quieted 
down and not a gun was to be heard nor a Yankee seen. 
This silence was ominous and portended no good to any- 
body. 

The Yankees had stopped somewhere out in the 
woods some two thousand yards in front of us or they 
might be sending their whole force around to our rear 
and we had to know what they were up to. So Lieuten- 
ant Sam Brooks of Co. I), of our regiment w^as sent out 
with a half dozen of us to hunt them up and we rode out 
across that field to within two hundred yards of the tim- 
ber before we saw any sign, when there they w^ere and in 
my state of feeling, there seemed to be at least a million. 
I thought of my experience on a similar occasion with 
Captain Harper and wondered if 1 would come as well 
out of this. NA'hen we discovered them we made a grad- 
ual circuit to the left instead of turning square back in 
order to make them think we wasn't scared, but more es- 
pecially because there Avas a skirt of woods not far off in 
that direction. Weil this time they did not shoot at us 
and we got safely back nearly to our lines when they 
turned loose a shell at our squad which struck a stump 
right in our midst but did no damage further than to 
add to our scare. The enemy became restless and seem- 
ed spoiling for a fight so our regiment was dismounted, 
deployed as skirmishers and sent down on the face of the 
hill to meet them. We were ordered to ^^ambush" which 
under the circumstances was an exceedingly grim joke. 
There was no more to hide behind on that hill than there 
is on a tin roof with no chimneys and the blue coats were 
coming on in solid line of battle and they had their guns 
with them too. It looked like they w^ere coming to stay 
awhile. They unlimbered their artillery and began to 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



139 



^bell us. They got our range very quickly and put their 
shells dangerously close. We were lying down (in am- 
bush) and trying to squeeze ourselves into the ground 
while the shells ploughed up the earth all around us but 
hit nobody. Captain Jeff Rogers of Co. D. was looking 
down the muzzle of one of their pieces and concluded 
that it was aimed for him. He rolled over a few times 
to get out of the way when the shell struck almost exact- 
ly where he had been lying and tore a hole in the ground 
big enough to hide a man. With the remark that "light- 
ning never strikes twice in the same place" the Captain 
jumped into the hole and w^as the only man of us who was 
fortified. The Captain w^as a brave man, his action sur- 
prised us. I asked him why he ran and he said he did not 
know. As the gun was about to be fired a feeling came 
over him that he was in the way, and made the move be- 
fore he was conscious of it. Captain Rogers only exper- 
ienced w^hat every other soldier has at some period in his 
service and his rolling out of the way of the shell was 
purely involuntary. He had no will in the matter. Such 
occurrences were frequent in the army, as every soldier 
will remember, and many can now look back to a similar 
experience by which their lives were saved by some sud- 
den and unaccountable act of which they knew or 
thought nothing till afterward. 

All this time w^e were lying there doing nothing, as 
they were out of range of our rifles, and you may depend 
we were anything but comfortable. Failing to shell us 
out they advanced their infantry line and pretty soon we 
began to pop away at them. They did not pay much at- 
tention to us but kept coming till within about eight 
hundred yards they halted and let fly. They scattered 
cold lead all about us. Just when things were growing 



j^O REMINISCENCES 

interesting the order was given "slarmishers retreat" and 
we were on our feet in an instant, falling back to the 
main line. We didn't run back but fell back gradually, 
skirmishing as we went. Several of the boys got hit, 
among the rest Philander Pool of our company. A ball 
struck Philaiider over the heart but was stopped by his 
sweetheart's picture, which he carried in his pocket. He 
dropped like a chunk and some of the boys ran to him 
to carry his — supposed — dead body off the field. Before 
they reached him he jumped up and then fell again, then 
up, then down for all the world like a headless chicken 
and finally started on a dead run toward the Yankees. 
He had gone fifty yards before the boys caught him and 
when they did they turned him about face and he kept 
going till he reached our line where he was cared for and 
he did not come to his senses for several hours afterward. 
On this account some of the boys always accused Philan- 
der of carrying his brains in his vest pocket. But he has 
no cause to abuse the bridge that carried him over, for it 
saved his life and he is still living in Union county, the 
husband of as good a woman and the father of as many 
children as any old member of our company. 

A little thing happened at Chickamauga station 
which came near resulting seriously to our army. While 
Sherman made a great pretense of pushing us in front the 
sly old fox was sending a heavy force around our left and 
came near gaining his objective point unperceived by us, 
owing to our small cavalry force and the necessity of 
keeping every soldier in the fighting line. Back of the 
hills which surround Chickamauga station there is a wide 
cultivated valley and the nicest place to camp an army, 
in the whole country. Bragg's wagon train was all in 
this valley with teams hitched up, drivers mounted and 




Hon. Polk Lapfoon. 



Enlisted at the age of fifteen years as a Private in the Tenth 
Kentucky Cavalry, C. S. A.: served with distinction; was cap- 
tured with General Morgan in Ohio. Since the war he prac- 
ticed law and has twice represented the Second Kentucky 
district in the Congress of the United States. He is now a 
citizen of and practicing his profession at Madisonville, Ky. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. j^I 

everything ready to move whenever and wherever order- 
ed. By some means a Yankee spy got through our lines, 
rode around among the wagon trains, personated our 
wagon Master General and ordered the wagons parked 
and teams fed. His order was speedily obeyed and when 
we came in sight over the hill on our retreat, such a sight 
as met our gaze beggars description. All our supplies 
down in that held, teams unhitched, teamsters cooking 
supper and everything as calm as if there was not a Yan- 
kee in twenty miles, and all the time Sherman was coil- 
ing his line around us. There was nothing to do but 
light out of it or lose everything, so, at it we went on 
front and flank. The alarm was spread among the team- 
sters and they w^ere not long in getting started southward 
and the impetuosity of our attack caused the Yankees to 
think that we had received reinforcements and led them 
into a trap. Fortunately night came on before they had 
time to find out just what was up. This came near bring- 
ing on a battle for which Bragg was not ready and which 
was bound to prove disastrous to us. Such small things 
often decide the fate of nations. A squad of our boys 
went gunning for this spy and although they got pretty 
close to him and ran him into Sherman's lines they failed 
to catch him, for which I am glad now, for it was a daring- 
feat and very dangerous. I had played the same kind of 
a game myself and remember how near I got my head in 
a halter and then, "A fellow^ feeling makes us wondrous 
kind." But, if we had caught him I have no doubt, I 
would have said ''hang him." Such is war and he who 
goes to war must take his chances. Sentiment amounts 
to but little and I am afraid that chirstian charity is lost 
sight of between men who are engaged in cutting each 
other's throats. 

10 



1^2 REMINISCENCES 

It is all very nice to talk about? now and a credit to 
our civilization, but when men were arrayed against men 
in deadly strife the man who furnished them with good 
grub and ammunition was more sought after than the one 
who undertook to minister to their soul's w^elfare. I have 
always believed that God's mercy extended to those who 
died fighting for an honest principle and that his saving 
grace was all sufficient. We know that their memories 
are embalmed in the hearts of a grateful people. 

The geographical formation of north Georgia is such 
that the defensive army can select its own position and 
force a battle at any time the aggressor wants it. Of 
course this only applies to a case where opponents are 
something like evenly matched in numbers. It did not 
apply in our case, but we contested every foot of ground 
and kept Sherman from running rough shod over the 
country. We only lacked men enough to cover his front 
to have kept him back and perhaps give him another dose 
of Chickamauga wdiile we had him down there. Our 
cavalry brigade was kept very busy watching and check- 
ing fiank movements and sometimes Sherman would 
crowd our army so hard that w^e w^ould have to make a 
stand and give him a little thrashing. Bragg usually 
managed to have this engagement take place near the 
close of the day wiiich gave us the chance to strike a blow 
and enjoy the protection of darkness to reform our lines. 

Our next stand after Chickamauga station was at 
Grayville, a station a few miles to the south. In forming 
the line our brigade was on the left of a division of Ten- 
nessee infantry and occupied some breastworks that had 
been throw n up some time before. The Yankees charged 
our front and we repulsed them. For an hour or more 
there was no more lighting done, when suddenly a cour- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



143 



ier dashed up with information that the enemy was flank- 
ing us on the right and orders for us to mount our horses 
and go check the movement. We passed some fifty or 
sixty yards in the rear of the infantry on our right and 
just when we were exactly behind them the Yankees 
charged them and for about forty minutes there was the 
hottest of hot times and we could not take a hand. We 
had to stand and take it. We could see everything that 
happened. Our infantry tumbling over like ten-pins, the 
minnie balls flying thick among us. shells bursting all 
about us, limbs of trees falling on us and a general pan- 
demonium reigned. After the scrap was over our bri- 
gade was marched back to its old position which it held 
till next morning. * 

We had several men and horses wounded and it 
seems wonderful that the casualties were not greater, as 
we sat on our horses in good range with nothing to shield 
us. John T. Quarles (known as ''T") and I were beside 
each other when we were both struck. ''T," with a groan, 
clapped his hand to his head and reeled over towards 
me. Supposing that he was shot through the brain T 
caught and pulled him o^er in front of me and carried 
him down the hill to our field hospital where he was laid 
on the ground for dead. He began to show signs of life 
when an examination showed that the ball had entere«i 
the calf of his leg and ranged down the bone to his ankle 
where it was afterward cut out. I did not know that I 
had been hit till I got off my horse when I discovered that 
my foot and leg were asleep. An examination showed 
that a ball had hit me on the instep, but was glanced off 
by the hard rawhide shoe 1 was wearing. The boys all 
remember these shoes, how they would soften and stretch 
in wet weather and draw up and get as hard as iron when 



144 REMINISCENCES 

they got dry. To one of these shoes, in the latter condi- 
tion, I am indebted for the possession of two feet today. 

Bragg did not haye a force enough to giye Sherman 
battle, so he did the best he could to hold him in check by 
giving him a kick at eyery available position. While we 
were holding the line at Grayville, Bragg was arranging 
his forces at Ringgold GaiJ to stop Sherman, if possible. 
Ringgold Gap is a narrow pass through Taylor's ridge 
which is a steep rocky mountain hard to climb on the 
north side. The gap is not oyer one hundred yards wide 
and across this space — except in the road — our artillery 
was placed almost hub to hub, masked and loaded with 
grape and canister. The bulk of our infantry occupied 
the hill tops on both sides of the gap all ready for the ene- 
my to come on. Only our brigade and a small infantry 
brigade were left out at the front to draw them on and 
they made it very hot for us. We fought them stubborn- 
ly till they drove us through the town of Ringgold when 
we apparently stampeded and began to show confusion, 
when here they came, head on all massed and mixed up 
without any show of order, yelling and howling right af- 
ter us like a pack of hungry wolves. We kept up our 
show of panic till we had passed our line of battle and 
our troops kept themselves out of sight till the enemy 
was within fift}^ yards, when bushes wei'e torn from in 
front of the cannon, everything turned loose, the ''rebel 
yell," sounded a general charge all along the line and in 
twenty or thirty minutes the Yankees learned a lesson 
that lasted them till next May. 

This was a short but very decisive engagement and 
Sherman did not follow us any further in 1863, but went 
back to Chattanooga. Bragg established headquarters 
at Dalton and both armies went into winter quarters. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 45 

Sherman's outpost was at Ringgold and Bragg's at Tun- 
nel Hill, about ten miles apart. The country between 
was neutral ground and seldom ever incroached on by 
either party. Our brigade, of course, was put on the out- 
post and had t6 watch day and night. We had no rest 
and but little to eat. Our horses, ourselves, our clothing 
and equipments were run down to the ragged edge; in 
fact Bragg's whole army was about in the same fix and 
was about as tough a looking lot of patriots as could be 
imagined. There was other cavalry in the service, but 
it appeared that we had to play the small boy and wait 
on all the balance of the family. We had to take all the 
hard places. A finely-mounted and equipped Georgia 
brigade was marched up to take our place, and we, tired, 
ragged and hungry as we were, were sent off across the 
Chilhowie mountains to Elejay, Ga., and for what pur- 
pose we never found out. It was a long hard trip. We 
onl}^ stayed one night, and marched right back again to 
our old place and duty. We never saw or heard of a Yan- 
kee and I doubt if to this day, one has ever found the way 
there. We started on the Elejay trip with only one day's 
rations and a short day at that, so when we arrived there 
we were out of grub and there was but little show to get 
any. I went on a scout and discovered, just out of town, 
a few pretty fair looking shoats which would weigh 
about seventy-five pounds each. I located their sleeping- 
apartments in a stable across the road from the house of 
the owner, reported my find to my messmates and that 
night about ten o'clock, with Alex Barrett, George Quar- 
les and Walker Howell, I started out to "draw my ra- 
tions." We wanted to be quiet and decent about it, so 
did not disturb the owner to get up and wait on us. Slip- 
ping up to the stable door, provided with a good club, I 



146 



REMINISCENCES 



sent Barrett in to flush the game.* He found them and 
they came out with a rush. As the leader jumped out at 
the door I gave him the club in the forehead and no pro- 
fessional batter ever stopped a base ball quicker than I 
did that pig. We all grabbed a leg and rushed down to 
a big gulley w^hich was also a thicket and proceeded to 
skin our capture. While thus engaged a small squad of 
men came creeping along near us and we discovered that 
Captain John Wall was the leader. Now, Captain Wall 
was officer of the day and it was his duty to enforce all 
orders of the commanding officer. One order was ''that 
nothing should be taken from any citizen without proper 
compensation and then only from those willing to sell." 
This shut us out as we had no money. The punishment 
for a violation of this order was very severe. We thought 
Captain Wall was on our trail and were considerably 
scared. While we were watching for developments 
"thud'' "squeak" and here came another party with a hog 
swinging by the legs. They dropped into the same gul- 
ley a few yards below" us and proceeded to skin their hog, 
too. Having a curiosity to knoAV who our neighbors were 
I crawled up close to them when bless your soul, it was 
Captain Wall himself who was working on that hog. 
Comment is unnecessary, an empty stomach is con- 
scienceless. Owing to the extra watchfulness of Cap- 
tain Wall that night all the pigs and chickens in Elejay 
were rid of the further trials and troubles of this "onfren- 
ly" world and contributed their substance to the support 
of that part of the cause represented by the Kentucky bri- 
gade. We did not sleep much that night, devoting most 
of the later hours to cooking and eating. We left on our 
return march early in the morning not much rested, but 
much more comfortable under our belts. When we got 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 47 

back Tiinuel Hill we took up our old position on outpost 
duty and to the hardest living we had ever experienced. 

But we were not in the habit of starving long when 
there was any chance to help ourselves. If the Yankees 
had any surplus rations and were anywhere that we 
could reach them we were in the habit of forcing a divis- 
ion. Word reached us that Sherman had established a 
convalescent camp at Charleston, a small town in east 
Tennessee on the road from Chattanooga to Knoxville — 
and had supplied it Avith a liberal quantity of rations for 
both sick and well. This information aroused our appe- 
tite and we determined to possess these supplies or "die 
a tryin." About eight hundred men were selected from 
the brigade for the expedition and with two pieces of ar- 
tillery took up the line of march in the afternoon with 
the intention of striking the enemy's camp at daylight 
next morning. Everything went "merry as a marriage 
bell" and we were extra cheerful in anticipation of the 
good "stuffin" we would have for breakfast. We had 
been informed that there was only about 1500 sick and 
crippled soldiers at this post and were, really,* beginning 
to feel sorry for them and trying to devise means to avoid 
giving them such a scare as to result seriously. Alas! 
for our finely laid schemes; they went "aglee." 

When Longstreet left Knoxville, Buruside sent three 
regiments of infantry and two of cavalry to reinforce 
Sherman. As it happened these troops arrived at Charles- 
ton the day before we did and we found them there the 
next morning, very wide awake. About two miles from 
town we struck a swampy piece of road in which our ar- 
tillery got stuck and I was, fortunately, placed in charge 
of a detail to help it over. The rest of the command went 
on, as we all supposed, to the grub pile and left me and 



148 REMINISCENCES 

my gang to lift and ''cuss" the "- artillery'' — "did 

more barking than biting anyhow." As it turned out, my 
lucky star was with me again, for the boys stirred up the 
worst hornet's nest they had encountered since Sweden's 
cove. They went off "guying" us, but we had the laugh 
on them before the day was spent. Full of confidence 
they charged the Yankee camp in anticipation of an easy 
victory followed by a good breakfast, but instead of a lot 
of sick and crippled, they found an overwhelming force of 
able bodied Yankees ready and "willin." After the in- 
fantry had demoralized our boys the cavalry took a hand 
and corraled them in a grape vine thicket where they (the 
Yankees) had everything to suit them. We lost several 
good men in this engagement. I can only remember 
Frank Standiford killed. Frank was a true gentleman 
and soldier and a general favorite in the regiment. His 
death cast a gloom over the whole command. This fight 
occurred on the 2Sth day of December, 1863 and is known 
to all who participated in it, as "the Charleston races." 
We had just got the artillery across the mud when the 
boys began to straggle back and had all our work to do 
over. If Colonel Liebold> the Yankee commander, had 
followed on he would have captured two good rifled can- 
non. But he seemed satisfied with what he had already 
accomplished and very kindly, let us get away. 

There were some amusing as well as serious phases 
attached to this skirmish. In their over-confidence, the 
boys neglected to pull down a high rail fence in their rear 
and thus provide for a retreat (they never forgot it after- 
ward.) The only way to avoid this fence was through a 
piece of heavily timbered bottom on the right of the field 
and the boys made for this woods as a good cover and the 
best chance to get away. When they reached the wood 




Capt, L. D. Hockersmith. 



Loreuzo Dow Hockersmith was working at his trade of brickmason in Louis- 
ville, when the war broke out. He immediately enlisted in the Confederate service 
and did duty as a private until Col. Adam Johnson began to recruit the Tenth 
Kentucky Cavalry, when he joined that regiment as First Lieutenant of Company 
C. By the death of Captain Wall at Milton, Tenn., he was advanced to the rank 
of Captain, and commanded the company until his capture with Gen. Morgan in 
Ohio. Capt. Hockersmith planned and carried into execution the scheme by 
which Gen. Morgan and his party escaped from the Ohio Penitentiary. After the 
war he settled in Madisonville, Ky., where he has followed his trade. He is a 
prominent Mason, and member of the M. E. Church South, and is universally 
loved and respected by all who know him. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



149 



they found it tilled with Yankees and grapevines. For 
a few minutes the fight was hand to hand. Pistols and 
sabres were trumps and the grapevine got in its work. 
Lieutenant Barney Logsdon was leading a section of his 
company using his "navy" right and left and spreading 
dismay among the enemy, when just as he had fired 
his last shot he came face to face with a big Yankee who 
demanded his surrender. Barney had been reveling in 
gore till his fighting blood was up and had no idea of 
complying with the request. Remembering his sabre — 
which up to this time had lain quiet in its sheath, he 
jerked it from the scabbard and, with "die villain," raised 
it OA'er the head of his adversary with the intention of 
cleaving him from "helmet to croupe.'' But the afore- 
said "ad." was a little too quick for Barney and put a pis- 
tol ball through Barney's sword arm which changed his 
plans and put him on his good behavior. The boys do 
say that Barney apologized to the Yankee for his appar- 
ent rudeness and even agreed to serve out the balance 
of the war in prison, as some atonement for his indiscre- 
tion. Whether this is true or not I cannot say, but I do 
know that the Yankees seemed to appreciate him for they 
never let go of him till the war was over. 

Lieutenant Sam Brooks rode a large brown horse 
and the Lieutenant was a heavy weight himself. Tn the 
melee the Lieutenant's horse jumped across a swinging 
grape vine and when he attempted to go forward he w^ent 
up in the air — one end at a time. At some other time 
this might have been funny, but just now there was no 
fun in it. The Lieutenant saw that he was "hung up" 
and while he did not like to leave his horse, he saw^ that 
the chance of escape for both was very slim. With a word 
of encouragement, the Lieutenant socked the spurs into 



150 



REMINISCENCES 



''Selim" in the hope of lifting him ov^r the vine, but seem- 
ed to only make matters worse, Selim's hindparts swung 
so high that the Lieutenant came near being dumped. 
But the next trial the Lieutenant gave out the '^rebel 
yell" at the same time he applied the spurs. Belim put 
forth an extra effort and had Vesuvius suddenly erupted 
on the ground the surprise would not have been greater. 
Under the severe strain the vines for an acre around 
broke and were dragged dow^n from the trees and becom- 
ing entangled with Lieutenant Brooks and Selim went fly- 
ing through the forest, like a drag thro' a wheai. field, 
sweeping everything before them, creating wonder and 
consternation all along the line and putting an end to 
the fight. Now^ this grapevine story is not literally true, 
but the Lieutenant and Selim did get hung on a grape- 
vine and had to pull it down in order to escape. Those 
of the brigade, not killed, wounded or captured succeeded 
in getting back to headquarters and not one of them had 
anything to say of the gallant deeds performed while ab- 
sent. 

About the 1st of December, 1803, General John C. 
Breckenridge was appointed Secretary of War and Gen- 
eral Joe Johnston superseded General Bragg, in com- 
mand of the army of the Tennessee. 1 have told you that 
Bragg's army was badly run down in the way of equip- 
ments and that the Kentuckians especially, were in bad 
shape. Bragg had run us and fought us here and there 
while we were star^ ed and naked and although our pa- 
triotism nevei' wavered we felt very sore over our treat- 
ment and indulged in a good deal of grumbling. Gener 
al Johnston, on assuming command, had set to work to re- 
organize and equip his force and by the aid of contribu- 
tions from the different Southern States soon had all but 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER j 5 1 

the Kentucky troops iu nice shape. This, of course, add- 
ed to our discontent and we were outspoken in our con- 
demnation of the authorities. We were especially severe 
on General Breckenridge, because we felt that his posi- 
tion gave him the power to direct such matters and we 
felt that he ought to take a special interest in his old 
command, at least give us an equal show. We were not 
very choice of language nor particular before whom we 
talked for which reason troops from other States drop- 
ped into the same habit. Some of our boys went on a vis- 
it to an Alabama brigade and while there the Alabam- 
ians took occasion to criticise General Breckenrid^fe. This 
was resented by our boys and a fight was the conse- 
quence. The trouble spread till both brigades became 
involved, the ''long rolF' was sounded, the men all jump- 
ed to arms and but for the prompt action of the General 
officers, there would have been a battle right there. Of 
course this reached the ears of General Breckenridge and 
some time afterward, when on a visit to our department, 
he made us a speech which healed all dissensions and 
made us feel that we had only honored ourselves and our 
State the more, by reason of the extra trials we had 
borne. His words on that occasion were about as fol- 
lows: 

"Kentuckians: As I look in your faces, I feel that 
I am again at home with my native countrymen, whose 
law is honor, whose integrity is unsullied and whose bra- 
very is unquestioned. Tested on a hundred battlefields, 
during three wars in the history of onr country no blot 
has ever marred the glory page of Kentucky. From 
Daniel Boone to Jeff Davis, Kentucky has produced he- 
roes without a break in the record. You come of old 
stock and have vindicated the family record. Intimate- 



152 REMINISCENCES 

ly associated with you, as I was in tb^ early days of this 
struggle, I am proud to say that you more than fulfilled 
my expectations of your superior officers and I know that 
you are held in the very highest estimation by the Presi- 
dent and his cabinet. 

"I know that you complain that you do not receive 
fair treatment, have to perform extra service and are not 
provided for as well as your comrades from other States. 
You must remember that you are orphans. (You are 
called 'Breckenridge's orphans, in Richmond). All the 
other troops have a mother state to help out in the sup- 
ply of their ow^n troops, while you have to depend solely 
on the central government. I knoAv that you would keep 
yourselves supplied if you were allowed to get out among 
the Yankees, but for some good cause you are kept back 
with the army. 

"I also know that you have 'cussed' me not a little 
because 1 did not fix you up and give you a soft place 
when I was appointed Secretary of War, but you know 
that, had I done so, the other troops would have grum- 
bled at me, and with just cause. 

"'But I knew you would get over your quarrel with 
me. I knew what kind of metal you were made of and 
a little episode that I learned of, proved that I was cor- 
rect. I allude to the affair with the Alabama brigade. 
Boys, I here and now give you the liberty to 'cuss' me at 
any time and as often as you please, consoling myself 
with the knowledge that you won't allow anybody else 
to do it." 

That settled it so far as we were concerned and it 
wasn't long before we found that the General had some- 
thing good for us. 

But the good times didn't come just now. We still 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



153 



had a work to perfoi*iii and make everything secure for 
the army. 

Soon after our return from the "Charleston raoei*" 
(General Kilpatrirk concluded that he would feel our line 
and see how we were fixed. 

Now the General was a dashing officer, with more 
dash than discretion, and if his men had been as indis- 
creet as he, a goood many of them would have filled glor- 
ious graves instead of being alive to tell how they charg- 
ed us. The General with his brigade left Kinggold one 
morning on the gallop. When he encountered our pick- 
ets he ordered a charge and came near getting into our 
camp before we knew of his coming. Fortunately, how^- 
ever, we were notified in time to get into line and served 
him like the locomotive did the bull, "knocked him out." 
This happened to be the day that our brigade and regi- 
mental officers were enjoying a banquet in town and the 
camp was left to itself. Our Major, J. Q. Chennowith, 
had just bought him a fine ''dapple gray'' horse and a new 
uniform. He was fine looking and — well — we thought 
a little "peacockey." In order to create a sensation 
among his brother officers and, perhaps, arouse a spirit of 
envy among them, the Major devoted more time to his 
toilet than the occasion really demanded and as a conse- 
quence got caught in the trouble, ^^'hen the bullets be- 
gan to sing through camp, every fellow jumped for his 
gun and got behind trees, fences, cabins and began to 
pop away. There was confusion for awhile, but nothing 
like a stampede. Major Chennowith, who was the rank- 
ing officer in camp, took charge and soon had the brigade 
in fighting trim. While some were shooting others were 
"saddling up'' and by the time the Yankees got ready to 
go home, we were ready to help them along. We follow- 



1 54 REMINISCENCES 

ed them to Ringgold gap, but rememT>eiiug the trick we 
played them there once before, we thought best not to 
undertake to follow them through. 

Major Chennowith cut quite a conspicuous figure in 
this fight. Beside his fine uniform and fine gray horse, 
he had a long "red'* fox brush on his hat for a "cockade.'' 
He persisted in keeping out in front of the line where he 
was exposed to unnecessary danger, although w^e insisted 
that he should keep back. He was mad, but when his 
horse was shot down he was furious. Procuring another 
horse he exposed himself more than ever and seemed to 
be perfectly reckless. He seemed to have drawn the fire 
of Kilpatrick's whole line and we expected him to be shot 
down any moment. Finally we saw his fox tail fall — 
shot off his hat — and at the same time the Major turned 
his horse's head to the rear and took refuge behind the 
cabins with the rest of us. The boys thought that the 
Major was straining his courage on this occasion, but af- 
ter events, of wiiich I will have occasion to write, proved 
that the Major wasn't afraid and never entirely lost his 
presence of mind. The funny part was that after we 
had driven the Yankees off and w^ere on our return to 
camp, we met the officers who were at the banquet, com- 
ing "head on lickety brindle" and assumed command 
with as much ''aplomb'' as though they had been on hand 
all the time. 

Everything was quiet for the next few days and Gen- 
eral Johnston wanted to know what the enemy was doing, 
so sent over to our camp for a scout to reconnoitre his 
position. The order was for a sergeant and five men. 
The party was to be small in order to move fast and not 
attract attention. It was expected to gain all the infor- 
mation it could without showing itself, and one of the 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



155 



most comfoi-tiug thoughts was that it was not ex])ected 
to do auy fighting, but as mucli good ruuniug as w^as nec- 
essary to keep a whole hide. By some good or bad luck. 
I was detailed to take charge of this scout. NVe reported 
to General Johnston in the forenoon an- 1 received instruc- 
tions as to route and duty. We had to cross Taylor's 
ridge and scout along the whole line of Federal outposts 
from Twickham (w^e called it Trickem) to the Ohickamau- 
ga battle ground and over it as far as we could safely go. 
The snow began to fall about noon and we set out without 
guide or compass and with a very limited knewiedge of 
the country. After crossing the ridge w^e soon discovered 
the camp fires of the enemy, who, not suspecting any dan- 
ger on such a night, w ere not very watchful, and we were 
thus enabled to proceed in comparative safety. While 
the snow^ continued to fall we w^ere comfortable, but about 
two o'clock in the morning a bitter cold wind from the 
north sprung up, the snow ceased falling and from then 
on we suffered. The wind was square in our faces, and 
oh! it was bitter. We reached the (,'hickamauga battle 
ground a short while before daybreak and rode over foui' 
or five miles of the line before the Federals, who were 
camped here and there along the East slope of Lookout 
mountain, began to stir. The ground w^as covered with 
four inches of snow and we could see but few signs of the 
battle, except amongst the timber and other things abov<» 
ground that were left standing. 

Along in the morning after sunrise the Yankees be- 
gan to stir around so lively — it had cleared otf and we 
could hear them plainly — that we decided to turn our 
faces homeward, and chose a route over Taylor's ridge 
instead of attempting to return by the route we came, 
which was good enough for a bad night, but too risky for 



156 



REMINISCENCES 



a clear day. When we reached the fop of the hill we came 
upon a mountaineer's cabin in which a dance was in prog- 
ress — had been going on all night and there was but little 
show for its conclusion when we arrived at 9 o'clock in 
the morning. The boys hailed this as a God-send, as all 
were frozen stiff and there was a prospect of thawing out. 
We were received cordially, invited in and given places 
around the fire, the jug of ''mountain dew" passed and we 
were given a general invitation to make ourselves at home. 
The dance went merrily on and the enjoyment of the scene, 
the glow of the pine log fire and the effect of the ''pine top" 
whisky soon had the young and gallant blood of our boys 
flying through their veins at a 2:04-| speed, keeping neck 
and neck with the fiddler, who could get more and faster 
music out of "Cotton-eyed Joe" than any other fiddler I 
ever saw. I have forgotten the names of the boys com- 
posing our scout, except Alex Barrett and Louis Wall, 
and any one who knew them also knew that they were al- 
ways ready for any frolic or adventure and thought little 
of consequences. W^ell, the boys wanted to dance a set, 
in which they were seconded by the young ladies present, 
but knowing the danger we were in and being respon- 
sible for the success of the expedition, I forbade it, and 
in order to prevent it, gave the order to mount, at the 
same time going out to my horse. Some of the boys lin- 
gered over their parting with the girls and the "jug" and 
I began to fear that I would have trouble in getting them 
away. Looking down the mountain 1 discovered about 
fifty Yankee cavalry not over a quarter of a mile away, 
following our trail, and but that they had the capes of their 
overcoats buttoned over their heads and were very cold 
they would undoubtedly have seen us. I passed the word 
to the boys and it acted like magic. They were on J^heir 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. I 57 

horses in a jiffy, we were away over the hill and out of 
sight. We didn^t carry back much information that was 
very valuable, but if we had stopped to dance that set we 
wouldn't have carried any. 

But now we are going to have an easy time for awhile, 
yet are in blissful ignorance of it. We are gathered to- 
gether bag and bagagge and marched to the rear. W^e 
did not know what was in store for us and there were 
many rumors afloat as to our destination. As before 
stated, we had been ''hacked" about until we were tired 
of it and there were a good many signs of insubordination. 
We did not know but that this move was to get us in the 
rear of the army in order to discipline us, and there was a 
strong feeling that there would be serious trouble. It 
would have been better if we had known what was ahead, 
"and saved us and our officers some humiliation. Colonel 
J. W'arren Griggsby was in command of the brigade, and 
while the Colonel was a good man, no doubt, he was a 
little foppish and we didn't like him. He would promul- 
gate orders and we obeyed them if it suited us. Colonel 
Helm was our standard and Colonel Griggsby fell far 
short, acording to our interpretation. But Ave moved on 
Southward, down the valley through a fine country, to 
Rome, Ga., down into the rich and fertile Talladega Val- 
ley in Alabama, where we went into winter quarters on 
the banks of the river near Oxford. Here we built us 
huts, or as we called them, ''dog houses," and prepared to 
enjoy ourselves as long as the circumstances would allow. 
Soon after we got fixed in camp the Colonel published his 
order for government in the camp. It was: "For the 
first four days in the week, company drill in the forenoon, 
battalion drill in the afternoon; dress parade on Friday, 
and general police duty on Saturday. No soldier to leave 

II 



158 



REMINISCENCES 



camp except on ^permit' from his Company commander, 
countersigned by the officer in command of the camp." 
How well these orders were obeyed will appear hereafter. 
The people living in Talladega Valley — we called it "dry 
valley" — were wealthy, hospitable and patriotic, and be- 
sides, had a great admiration for Kentucky soldiers. 

It is needless to say that we received a warm welcome 
wherever we went and still more needless to deny that we 
accepted their good will and hospitality in the kindest and 
most grateful spirit. This treatment w^as more effective 
in capturing our brigade than all the strategy, powder, 
lead and flank movements hurled at us by the enemy for 
two years. 

The captain and orderly sergeant were about all of 
the company who mustered for morning drill and an ag- 
gregate of these officers composed battalion muster in 
the afternoon. The rest of the command was absent with- 
out leave enjoying the luxuries of roast pig, stuffed turkey 
and the like, to say nothing of the music and flowers which 
were inseparable concomitants. Bob Waller and Bill 
Ellis were never reported for duty while in the camp, but 
as I am so well posted on their movements, it may be 
asked, "Whar was you?" 



CHAPTER XI. 

WHILE the good spell was on, the Confederacy decided 
to pay us for services rendered, I suppose that we 
might better enjoy the rest in store for us. Bob Waller 
and I were detailed to make up the muster roll of our 
company. We went about two miles from camp and en- 
gaged a room and board with one Mr. Wilson. The Wil- 
son family was composed of the old gentleman and his 
wife, a grown son too weak for military duty and a crip- 
pled daughter, Miss Mollie. The old man was a dilapidat- 
ed old fellow nearly ripe enough to pull; his son was a 
second edition of the old man; Miss Mollie was, although 
lame ,a vivacious, sweet-natured girl, quite good-looking 
and with considerable accomplishments, in fact altogether 
unlike any of the rest of the family. But the old lady was 
the man of the house. She was a Northern woman and 
had an eye to business. She was in the South teaching 
when Wilson married her and I am pretty sure she ex- 
ercised her calling on him and taught him that the woman, 
at least in her case, was not the weaker vessel. 

Department "red tape" required the muster roll to be 
made out monthly and as the command had received no 
pay for several months it took us two weeks to do what 
might have been done in as many days. But the pay- 
ment was in no hurry nor were we. Lieutenant Sam 
Hughes would come out every day to inspect our work and 
Bob and I would work while he stayed, but most of the 



l5o REMINISCENCES 

Other time was passed in the parlor,*Miss Mollie playing 
on the piano, I on the fiddle and Bob doing the singing. 
How I wish you could have heard Bob sing. A mad cow 
or a distempered mule would hardly have been "in it" 
with Bob. But the Lieutenant got struck on our fair 
hostess and we soon found that this im5)osed extra work 
on us, as the Lieutenant lengthened each visit until they 
extended almost from reveille to taps. Others from camp 
got to dropping in and were warmly welcomed by the old 
lady, and here her Yankee shrewdness displayed itself. 
She prepared her table for the entertainment of those 
who called, while Miss Mollie made herself as agreeable 
as possible. Those present at meal time were given cor- 
dial invitation to partake and after the meal was over 
were politely asked for a half dollar. If the guest was so 
unfortunate as not to have the cash — which was usually 
the case — he was politely, yet firmly, requested not to call 
again. Bob and I had our expenses paid from the con- 
tingent fund of the regiment and, although it might now 
appear a little ungenerous, yet we enjoyed the discomfit- 
ure of the boys as well as we ever did a minstrel show. 
We had reserved seats on the hall stairs near the dining 
room door where we could watch the blank astonishment^ 
terror and shame depicted on their various countenances, 
as, on their exit from the dining room, they met the old 
lady with her demand for pay. To see how one would 
stammer and stutter and try to apologize, how another 
would try to borrow the necessary lucre from a friend,, 
whom he knew did not have it, how another would fran- 
tically run his hands down into his various pockets as if 
in search of cash when he knew he hadn't possessed a cent 
for months and then witness the withering smile and lis- 
ten to the sarcastic words with which the madam dis- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. l6i 

missed the delinquents was better than all the comedy 
plays of the world. Those who were lucky enough to 
have the change were marched across the hall and ushered 
into the parlor where Miss Mollie was expected to enter- 
tain them. Poor girl, we noticed tliat she appeared to 
be overworked and decided before we left that she was a 
victim of her mother's avarice. But the old lady's plan 
was heard of in camp and until the boys got their pay 
visitors were scare e. As everything must end our work 
was at last completed and we returned to camp. After 
the roll had been inspected and verified we were paid and 
the fun commenced. I had been in the army twenty- 
seven months and had never received a cent of pay, so 
drew nearly five hundred dollars and the other boys about 
two hundred dollars each. Money was plentiful and we 
had no use for it but to enjoy it. We were in a good coun- 
try and such things as we wanted were yet tolerably plen- 
tiful, so we set about looking them up. Bill Ellis pro- 
posed a trip of exploration to which I agreed and armed 
with three days' leave we started out. We made it our 
business to see everything worth seeing and have a good 
time generally, and to carry out our intention, called at 
every house and got acquainted. At most places they 
were glad to see us and talk to us and sjave us a warm wel- 
come» 

Of course I cannot remember the names of all the peo- 
ple we met, but there were tw^o families whom I shall 
never forget; those of Colonel Montgomery and Judge 
Cunningham. Colonel Montgomery was an officer in 
Lee's army, and his family consisted of his wife and two 
grown daughters. Mrs. Montgomery was somewhat of 
an invalid and the duties of the housekeeping fell on the 
oldest daughter, Miss Ophelia. Both the young ladies 



l62 REMINISCENCES 

were good musicians, fine conversatiofialists and very en- 
tertaining. Judge Cunningham was too old and feeble 
for a soldier and lived at home with his wife and three 
daughters, the youngest of whom was nearly grown. Mrs. 
Cunningham was a Kentucky lady and of course made us 
welcome. Ellis and I frequently went out and called on 
our friends during our stay at Oxford, indeed, we w ere ex- 
pected by them at least once a week. It was on one of 
these calls that I played a trick on Ellis, which came near 
resulting disastrously to his expectations. Bill got 
"sweet" on second Miss Cunningham, bat as the mother 
always kept her girls under her eye, he had a poor chance 
to spark the girl. At my suggestion he began to make 
up to the mother and was succeeding finely. Mrs. Cun- 
ningham was a great Ioa er of flowers and had a large 
number of rare specimens of which she was very proud. 
This was along late in March and gardens there were like 
ours here in May. Ellis to help on his cause took a great 
interest in the flowers and would spend hours with Mrs. 
C. listening to her explanations and descriptions. He 
was progressing fairl}^ well when one afternoon as we 
were leaving for camp Mrs. C. presented him with a very 
large and handsome bouquet composed of the very choice 
of the garden. Some half mile from the house Bill no 
ticed that his saddle blanket was disarranged and handing 
me his bouquet, dismounted to fix it. Now a soldier could 
ride into camp carrying a chicken, turkey, goose, or even 
a fat pig, and no questions be asked about it, but to ride 
into camp carrying a bouquet, oh, Lord! While riding 
slowly on these thoughts came to me and I proceeded to 
untie the string and let the fiowers shatter to the ground. 
As Ellis came to the first of them he realized what was up 
and charged after me with a yell, but it was too late when 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 63 

he caught me, as his bouquet was scattered along the road 
at least for a hundred yards. Bill took in the situation 
and instead of getting mad we both tnjoyed a hearty 
laugh. But a day of reckoning was coming sooner than 
we knew. Soon after leaving Mr. C.'s house his daughters 
started out to call on a neighbor and the fates led them 
over the road we had just traveled. Of course they saw^ 
the flowers and put their own interpretation on it. and on 
our next visit Mrs. C. gave Bill "Hail Columbia" for the 
way he had treated her. He explained to her how it hap- 
pened, but of course I lied out of it and left her under the 
impression that he was the worst hypocrite unhung. Af- 
ter events made nje very sorry that I left her with that 
imi)ression. I intended to explain all on my next visit 
and assume the responsibility, but I never saw her again. 
We soon went back to the front where we had no time to 
think of women and flowers and the music, for our enter- 
tainment was not made on pianos and fiddles. 

Going back a little to camp life and discipline while 
at Oxford, as before said, a very military set of orders 
were issued, which no one took any pains to obey. Tiring 
of this the Colonel in command resigned and General 
Lyon was sent to take charge of us. Now the General 
was a West Pointer and had the reputation of being a 
tough customer and a bad num to fool with. For the 
first few days the General had a pretty fair showing at 
drills and dress parade, but the ranks soon thinned out. 
The General would make the offenders carry rails, stand 
on stumps and otherwise punish them, but it soon became 
apparent that he would have to change the whole "lay- 
out" to a rail and stump brigade, so he too became dis- 
gusted and left iis. But we were doing one thing which 
was of more use to us than drills and parades. We were 



1 64 



REMINISCENCES 



resting and fattening our horses, fixing up our dilapidated 
equipments, making them fit for service, besides doing a 
good deal of chicken fighting and learning to die game. 

There was an Irishman named John Happy, of the 
Second Kentucky regiment, who could "heel" a chicken to 
kill every time, and when chickens were equally matched 
Happy's chicken always won. All Southern men are nat- 
ural sports and we found a good stock of the game breed 
of chickens in Dry Valley. We bought a few, opened the 
ball and the old citizens would come in with their birds 
to fight us. Until Happy killed all their fighting cocks, 
things were lively in camp, we won a lot of money and 
had stowed chicken every day for dinner. 

The brigade was without a head and we got along 
about ar> well as if we had a dozen. It was a kind of hap- 
py-go-lucky lime and we Enjoyed ourselves the best we 
could, for we knew times were too good to last. Spring 
was coming, which would bring active duty for the army 
and we were expecting the word every day. At last it 
came and we bade farewell to our friends, our pleasures 
and our "dog houses" and took up our march to the front 
to take up our old duty of acting as eyes and ears for Gen- 
eral Johnston's army. The final struggle soon came on 
and iK^ver ended or eased on us till the 9th day of May, 
1865. 




Caft. John L Howell. 

COMPANY G, FIRST KENTUCKY CAVALRY. 



CHAPTER XII. 

ARRIVING at Tunnel Hill we took up the old routine 
of picketing and scouting and, as there were nice 
grounds for the purpose near camp, those not on duty 
were put through the form of drilling. I say form, for it 
was only form. While at Bowling Green in 'Gl we were a 
well drilled cavalry, but now — well, we could manage to 
form fours and even platoons under favorable circum- 
stances. This was the exception; the rule was for every 
man to be his own captain and maneuver his own forces ; 
get there if he could or retreat in the best order possible, 
but never run clear away. ^ We set up a line of ^^dummies'' 
(stakes dressed in Yankee uniform) across our drill field 
and in order to familiarize our horses with the charge on 
infantry, would charge this ^^dummy" line with a yell as 
though it was composed of live men. Our horses refused 
to take the '^dummy" line, but when live men with guns 
and firing blank cartridges were substituted, our horses 
went through the line without a halt. This proved that 
the horse was not a coward where he understood matters, 
but like a man, did not care to tackle something he could 
not understand and which looked suspicious. 

Our picket line was several miles ahead of camp and 
a company was sent to each post to stay a week, the 
change at the post being made at night in order to hide 
our movements from the enemy who was close by and very 
watchful. The baseJ:o which our company was assigned 



1 66 REMINISCENCES 

was a new one, not having been occupied before, and at 
the rear of the farm of an old man named Pursley. Now, 
among other things, Pursley owned an old black sow knd 
six shoats, the latter weighing about sixty pounds each. 
That old Georgia sow was a hustler, and it wasn't long 
before she found us out and took up her abode with us. 
When we fed our horses we had to stand by with a brush 
to keep the hogs away and they were about as persistent 
as flies around a dish of molasses. This was very annoy- 
ing, but Pursley had been to our camp before the old sow 
found us out and had made quite a favorable inipression 
by offering to lend us anything about the place that we 
wanted to add to our comfort, and besides our natural 
honesty, we did not want to do anything by which we 
would lose the good opinion of Mr. Pursley. Knowing 
that his hogs were doing well on the range, Pursley was 
not very attentive to them and would only call them up 
occasionally to see that they were all right. They be- 
came so annoying that John B. Spalding got a little more 
angry than usual and knocked one of the shoats over. 
Here was a pickle, the hog was dead and the next thing 
was what to do with it. But the quandary didn't last 
long. Leaving the other boys to skin the hog I went 
over to the house and borrowed a large iron pot in which 
to cook it. I invited Pursley over to camp to take dinner 
with us. We cooked that pig to the queen's taste and all 
sat down to as rich a feast as could be imagined. Pursley 
was there and to show proper respect — he was a deacon 
in the church — we called on him to ask a blessing, to 
which he did ample justice. We enjoyed the feast and so 
did Pursley. We told him that we were not in the habit 
of getting such rations, and I think we made him believe 
it. The feast was over and Purslev went home. We had 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



167 



a taste of pork and sighed for more. This was the night 
for us to be relieved and we decided to save the balance of 
Pursley-s bacon, as we did not know what those who were 
to take our places would do. T took the kettle home and 
bade the good old man good-bye. We fed a little later 
that evening and had the darkness in which to carry out 
our charitable work, and when we returned to camp after 
being relieved, the other five shoats went with us. Only 
the old sow stayed to comfort Brother Pursley. The hogs 
were not missed for three or four days and when the 
old man went to look for them he found them gone. He 
discovered some signs around the picket camp and at ^nce 
decided that the company of Georgians which had re- 
lieved us, had made way with them. I have no record of 
whether he blessed them or cursed them, but the language 
he used to us about them when w^e returned to the post 
next week would not fit very w^ell into the amen corner 
of the Baptist church at this day. In language more for- 
cible than elegant he denounced them for a lot of thieves 
and cowards and we ''amened" everything he said. Now, 
reader, don't call us hypocrites; just say we were hungry 
for pork. And the old man only contributed — unwilling- 
ly 'tis true — to a good cause and lost nothing in the end 
for the Yankees came along there in a few days and took 
all he had left that was portable and burned his house be- 
sides. 

When we w^ent to relieve the Georgia company we 
found them all excitement. The vidette on a certain night 
post had been run in twice and reported that three men 
had attempted to surround him. As they would make a 
rush at him he would fire and run back to the base. The 
officer in command would send out a scout, but discovered 
nothing. I was sergeant on duty and took out men to re- 



1 68 REMINISCENCES 

lieve the outpost. We kept a "chain'' picket — men placed 
one hundred yards apart — and after phicing the men so as 
to watch the ground closely, I took the post occupied by 
the man who had given the alarms. This was at the cor- 
ner of a cleared piece of ground containing, perhaps, two 
acres and surrounded by a thick growth of scrub pine. 
It was about two o'clock in the morning and as I had had 
no sleep I was a little drowsy. There was about a quar- 
ter moon and a few clouds were flying. Everything was 
as quiet as the grave and I was feeling very comfortable, 
when all at once three men seemed to be closing in on 
me from different parts of the thicket. With a "halt" 
calculated to strike terror to their souls, my eyes flew 
open and no one was in sight. This occurred the third 
time when, having more of my wits about me, I spurred 
my horse in the direction of the nearest object and ran 
up on a black stump in the edge of the bushes, and on pur- 
suing my investigations I found two more stumps simi- 
larly situated in different parts of the ground. My eye- 
lids going down and the shadows of the clouds over the 
moon coming together and the stumps being of a different 
color from the bushes produced the illusion and caused 
the alarm. 

The morning of the 7th day of May, 1864, dawned on 
Tunnel Hill, Ga., bright and glorious. The air was balmy 
and all nature seemed to rejoice in the happiness of un- 
sullied pleasure. How soon man's inhumanity was to 
change the peaceful morning to a day of bitter strife. Our 
army was stationed on top of the hill awaiting Sherman's 
attack. One section of a battery was sent out in advance 
and unlimbered on a kuoll on our drill field in front and 
to the left of the town and our regiment, First Kentucky, 
was sent along to support it. We' formed in column of 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



169 



platoons in rear of the guns and waited developments. 
Soon a long blue line emerged from the woods across the 
creek and the hist great struggle had begun. We could 
see the enemy's line for miles and the sight was a gi-and 
one beyond description. After moving his line out into 
the field, Sherman halted it and stood for a long time as 
if loth to break the i)eace of the morning, and, although in 
plain -view and in good range of our artillery on the hill, 
not a gun was fired. It appeared that neither side w^ant- 
ed to be the aggressor. At last the enemy ran out three 
bright brass pieces, unlimbered them in our immediate 
front and before we hardly realized it, were bursting 
shells among us. Our piece of artillery limbered up and 
started off the field, aud we broke into column of fours and 
followed. Our line of march was diagonally up the hill 
for three-quarters of a mile before we reached cover and 
we went at about a sixty degree angle from their guns. 
They had perfect range from the start, bursting their 
shells right in our ranks and throwing their solid shot 
right through our column, under our horses and over them, 
and strange to say, they never touched a man or horse. 
It will be asked if we did not hurry off the field? No; 
we never rode out of an ordinary walk and not a man left 
his place in the ranks. This was the coolest of the many 
cool things I witnessed during the whole war. Shells 
were bursting over us and under us, solid shot were roll- 
ing over the field like base balls and every man was feeling- 
like his time had come, but not a man flinched and our 
horses took it as quietly as the men. Ordinarily, under 
such circumstances, you might expect one-half to bo 
killed and wounded and the balance stampeded, and yet 
we escaped entirely. 

I was told bv an officer who was on the hill aud saw 



J 70 REMINISCENCES 

it that the three pieces fired nine shots a minute at us 
while in range. The first shell exploded right over the 
head of our column, not twenty feet in the air, another 
not two feet from the hind leg of Philander Pool's horse. 
The horse jumped and Philander 's hat fell off. One of 
the boys behind reached down and picked up the hat, 
which saved the hat and Pool too, perhaps, as it allowed 
him to keep his place in ranks, which proved to be the 
safest. Philander would have had that hat if the shells 
had been twice as thick. Another shell passed between 
Si Bingham and the writer, so close to our heads that we 
were both rendered partially deaf by the concussion, and 
it burst not over twenty feet away. It is wonderful how 
we escaped and we felt very glad when we reached cover 
and found that no one was hurt. We also felt a pardon- 
able pride in the way he had conducted ourselves, the 
more so because the eyes of both armies were on us, but 
let me say right here that none of us had any desire to re- 
peat the experiment. And all this time our batteries on 
the hill were silent lookers on and did not fire a shot till 
we were out of it. I have often wondered why. It has 
seemed to me that from their position our guns could have 
silenced those firing on us and saved us much of the risk 
we ran and made it a little interesting for the other fel- 
lows. 

It was only a ^'show down" at Tunnel Hill. Sherman 
made a feint there and all the time was moving his troops 
down the valley and trying to get in behind Johnston at 
Dalton. Our brigade was divided up and scattered along 
the line to watch the movements of the enemy, and we had 
to go day and night. We would be sent to some point 
only to be recalled about the time we got there and sent 
off on the run in another direction. We were here, there 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 171 

and evervwhre, scouting, picketing, fighting, running and 
doing anything and everything except eat and sleep until 
at last it became absolutely necessary that we indulge in 
some of that, too. So about one o'clock on the morning 
of the 9th those of the brigade who happened to be to- 
gether went into camp at Dalton and were soon oblivious 
to all worldly troubles. Without taking the time to reg- 
ister or select rooms each one dropped dow n where he was 
and regardless of bed bugs, dirty sheets and body lice, was 
soon in the land of dreams, perhaps with mother, sweet- 
heart or other loved ones, enjoying the soldier's bliss — a 
good rest. Poor fellows. Ere another sun rises and sets 
some of them will have crossed over the dark river, while 
others will be doomed to carry through life the mark of 
the worst passions of their f(41ow man. 



CHAPTEK XIII. 

OUK bugler was somewhat of a character and had 
many points peculiar to himself and some in com- 
mon with other people. There was one characteristic 
in which he was like many others, he w^as very fond of 
the "mountain dew" found among the Tennessee and 
Georgia mountains. His name was Tom Richards and he 
hailed from Lancaster, Ky. He had every appearance of 
a staid old deacon in some strictly pious church, but his 
looks were deceptive, as he was capable of as high a 
"lark" as the wildest boy in the ranks. When on one 
of his "high lonesomes" Tom was reckless as to conse- 
quences and would as soon order the general to the rear 
and take command of the brigade as to eat his supper. 
Of course he was never punished further than being de- 
prived of his bugle and taken care of until his spree was 
over. On one occasion when the brigade was crossing 
the mountains on their return from a raid in Middle Ten- 
nessee, Tom found some "pine top,'' got drunk and fell 
out of ranks and when the rest went into camp he could 
not be found. Early next morning a squad was sent back 
to hunt him, and about two miles from camp found him 
quietly sleeping in a pig pen near the road. He hitched 
his horse to a tree near by, hung his bugle on a corner 
of the pen, climbed inside, undressed and went to bed 
right. The boys woke him and got him out of the pen, 
but he persisted in waking the landlord and paying for 




jas.h. bozarth. 



Was born iu Daviet«.s Couuty, Keutviuky, April 22, 1844: enlisted 1861 in 
Company C, First Keutncky Cavalry. When his Company was mustereil 
out in 186- he enlisted in Company A. of the new First Kentucky, witli 
which he served throughout the war, at which time he was Orderly Ser- 
geant of the Company. In F"ebrnary, 1865. he was sent with Captain W. 
J. Taylor and others into Kentucky on recruiting service. After a long 
and arduous march they arrived safely, only to find the war too near an 
end to get any recruits. He and his comrades started on their trip back 
to the South on April 10th, and on the twelfth met the enemy in Hopkins 
county and fought, perhaps, the last fight that was made iu Kentucky. 
He then went to Jackson, Miss., thence to Memphis, Tenn., where he sur- 
rendered. 

He returned to Daviess county, farmed for several years, served his 
precin(!t as constable, as deputy sheriff for nine years under six different 
sheriffs and is now deputy sheriff' of Daviess County, Kentucky. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 73 

bis lodging. There was no time for tooling, as the Yan- 
kees were close by, and the boys brought him into camp 
by sheer force. A few minutes more and Tom would 
have been a prisoner. Old Tom — we liked him so well — 
had a way of sounding a call which told us as plain as 
words what was ahead. We always knew from the way 
he blew his bugle what was to be expected. When every- 
thing was quiet and we w^ere having a rest, his bugle calls 
had a joyous ring which spoke peace and comfort to the 
camp. When in the presence of the enemy, he could 
make every man in camp hear, while those outside would 
not hear a sound. It seemed that he could limit the sound 
and place it just where he wished. And then when there 
was sudden, quick, sharp work to be done, Tom's bugle 
always told us in sharp, staccato notes not to be mis- 
taken, and whenever "boots and saddle" was spit at us 
through Tom's bugle like somebody was in a hurry, we 
expected to have some fighting to do and w^ere not long 
in getting ready. 

At daylight on the morning of the 9th of May we fed 
our horses and ate our little rations, expecting to be on 
the move at sunrise, but as time passed and we received no 
orders, we tumbled down on the ground and went to sleep. 
About nine o'clock that peculiar bugle call, which meant 
business, was sounded and woke every man in camp as 
effectively as though a cannon had been fired in our midst. 
All w^ere quickly mounted and we mov<?d out toward the 
rear down the valley at the foot of Rocky Face Mountain. 
We rode in a gallop for nine miles and arrived about half 
past ten at the road that led over the mountain through 
Dug Gap or Dug Hollow, as it was called by the natives. 
It was about a mile from the foot to the top of the moun- 
tain. About half way up we left our horses, double- 

12 



174 REMINISCENCES 

quicked to the top and arrived just* in time to meet and 
repulse tlie enemy who, had we been one minute later, 
would have had possession and let McPherson's corps of 
15,000 through to Johnston's rear and ruined him. We 
had to do some of the tallest fighting we ever did to keep 
McPherson in check. Compared with other engagements, 
this seems to have been too insignificant to be noticed by 
any historian, yet it w^as one of the most important as well 
as the most remarkable of the whole war and worthy to 
be ranked with Sabine Pass, both in courage and results. 
As before stated, (leneral McPherson's force consisted of 
15,000 infantry and artillery (official report) and ours con- 
sisted of the First Kentucky regiment, portions of the 
Second and Ninth Kentucky regiments and Second battal- 
ion and seventy -fifth Arkansas infantry, the whole 
amounting to less than a thousand men and we had no 
artillery, but this was no loss for we could not have 
used it. 

There was a space of some three hundred yards along 
the face of the mountain that could be climbed and our 
regiment, the first, was deployed across this space, the in- 
fantry on our left and the other cavalry on the right. 
The mountain was so steep that we could not see the ene- 
my over thirty yards. There was a ledge of rock run- 
ning along its crest forming natural breastworks and any 
quantity of broken stone lying around from the size of a 
man's fist to that of a W dry goods box. Beside our rifles 
each man had from two to four good navy pistols hung 
to his belt and these with the loose rocks are what saved 
our bacon, ^^'ith only our rifles the enemy, after receiv- 
ing our first fire, would have rushed on and overpowered 
us before we could reload, but when every man of us had 
from ten to twenty more loads to grind into them and 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 75 

when these were exhausted, laiiied rocks of all sizes and 
shapes delivered by a good, strong arm, it was more than 
human courage could stand and those who could would 
leave in a hurry, bat to reform for another charge. While 
they were getting ready w^e were reloading our fire-arms 
and gathering our stone ammunition. We would roll 
large boulders, some of them weighing a ton, up on the 
ledge and balance them so that one man could push them 
over, and the next charge they were sent into their ranks, 
carrying death and destruction in their path. AVe usually 
waited till we had repulsed the Yankees and then sent 
these boulders after them to hurry them up. We could 
trace their route for some distance down the hill by the 
agitation of the trees they would strike in their mad rush. 
Any boy who has ever indulged in the pastime of rolling 
a large stone down a steep hill can imagine how these 
rocks looked as they went flying to the bottom, and any 
one who has happened to be in the w ay when that boy's 
rock came bouncing along can imagine the feeling of those 
Yankees on the hillside w^hen those boulders came dashing 
after them. They were a brave lot of men who tried to 
dislodge us. From eleven in the forenoon until five in 
the afternoon they charged our line every half hour only 
to meet repulse every time. More than once they reached 
the very rocks we were behind, but could never get over. 
A captain and his company surrendered within twenty 
feet of our line. He said he did not have the courage to 
try to retreat through the shower of stones we were hurl- 
ing down on them. He could face our bullets, but the 
rocks were too many for his courage. 

We discovered that the bullets didn't stop coming our 
way when the enemy had gone out of sight, so concluded 
that his shai^i^shooters were in the trees and instituted a 



176 



REMINISCENCES 



kind of squirrel hunt for them. Major Chenowith, as 
usual, got excited, jumped on top of a rock and began a 
search, a bullet grazed the Major just above the ear and 
he got off the rock. John Happy tried it and got a bullet 
through the bowels, another man through the shoulder 
and another through the arm. Matters were getting ser- 
ious and the hunt exciting, when Tom Nunn, of Captain 
Joe Lewis' company, thought he had made a discovery and 
jumped on the rock to assure himself, and W'hile a half 
dozen of us were pleading with him to get dow^n a bullet 
passed through his heart and he fell on his face dead. A 
bullet struck the rock I was behind and filled my eyes 
full of sand. I had read of ruses practiced on the Indians 
by Boone and others and concluded to try it in this in- 
stance. Finding a long stone with a square end, I placed 
my hat on it and raised it slowly and sat it on my breast- 
works, at the same time peeping around the end. I had 
hardly completed my arrangements when a bullet struck 
the rock under my hat brim, knocking it over, but I saw 
the smoke of the fellow's gun who did the shooting and 
pointed him out to two of the boys about thirty feet to the 
right. They could see a small portion of his body on 
their side of the tree and I could see a little of him from 
mine. He w^as loading his gun and was in too big a hurry 
to w^atch us. So we all took aim at him, I counted, ^'one, 
tw^o, three," three rifles cracked simultaneously and that 
sharpshooter tumbled out of that tree like a squirrel shot 
through the heart. I don't know whether he w^as killed 
or not nor do I know whether my bullet hit him or not, 
but I do know that I didn't care if I did hit him, for my 
eyes were still smarting from the sand his bullet threw 
in them and he came near spoiling the best hat I had, 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 77 

and I wasn'r, ()\viiij>' to tlie provocation, in a very good hu- 
mor. 

Not succeeding in taking our position by storm, the 
enemy planted a battery on a hill across the valley and 
between charges shelled us pretty lively. This had but 
little ettect, as the most of their shells passed us and burst 
far in the rear. However there was one shell that scared 
us up and came near being the end of one of our boys — I 
have forgotten his name. It exploded right over his head 
and not two feet above him. He was sitting down behind 
a rock and was one of the two who helped me shoot the 
fellow in the tree. I was looking at and talking to him 
when the shell exploded and supposed that it had torn him 
into mince meat. Imagine my surprise when, after a few 
seconds, he raised up through the smoke and with "boys, 
that was a little too close to be comfortable," resumed 
his seat as if nothing unusual had occurred. Along in 
the afternoon we discovered that we were running short 
of ammunition and I was sent with a detail after more. 
We ran down the mountain to where we had left our 
horses, but they were not there. We ran on to the foot 
of the hill where we expected to find our ammunition 
v^agons and they were "not there, too." We followed 
their tracks and caught up with them a mile up the road 
toward Dalton. The shells that passed over us would 
burst over the horse-holders and they decided to get fur- 
ther away and moved down to the wagons. Now and then 
a shell would reach that far and Captain Jones decided to 
move up the road out of range. But time was pressing, 
and emptying a box of cartridges into a corn sack, each 
man threw his sack on his horse, mounted and made for 
the top of the hill. Loaded as our horses were the best 
they could do was slow and toilsome work and some gave 



1 78 REMINISCENCES 

out before reaching the line, mine among the rest. When 
a hundred yards away I found that lie could go no further 
and dismounting took the bag on my shoulder and began 
the climb over the rocks and through brush and managed 
to get in sight before I fell exhausted. Captain Howell 
ran to me, took up the bag and when he reached the line, 
ran along it strewing cartridges along like feeding corn 
to a lot of hogs and the boys acted very much like hungry 
hogs in picking them up, and well they might be. They 
had fired their last round and had nothing left but their 
rocks. 

The ammunition arrived just in time, for the Yankees 
were just starting on their last and most desperate charge. 
A few minutes' delay would have been fatal to us and it 
can be easily imagined that we were exceedingly thankful 
that the delay did not occur. 

All was now quiet but for the groans of the Federal 
wounded and an occasional shot from the Federal battery. 
Owing to the formation of the face of the hill the Federals 
were enabled to remove their dead and w^ounded within 
fifty yards of our line and a large number who lay with- 
in range of our vision crawled down the hill w^here their 
friends could get to them. We did not object to this, as 
we had no use for them and felt like it was a humane and 
proper treatment to extend to such brave men as they. 

We were now reinforced by a portion of Cheatham's 
corps, which brought good cheer to our hearts. The poor 
fellows were in a sorry plight, but still game. They had 
double-quicked nine miles through the heat and dust, and, 
when they arrived, were scarcely able to stand and too 
weak and fatigued to give the usual "yell." Their at- 
tempt at a cheer was plainti\e in the extreme. They 
formed a few paces in our rear and fell down on the rocks 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 17^ 

to get a inucli needed rest and as tliev wei-e not needed 
they enjoyed it undisturbed until near sunset, when w«' 
wei'e ordered out and they to take our phices. 

Nearly all our men were six-footers and the infantry 
relieving us were men of short stature. As we raised up 
to move out, being above and between them and the West- 
ern sky, we appeared really taller than we were, which 
drew from the men below us such expressions as ''(rood 
Lord, what men!" ''Boys, they are a regiment of giants," 
and others of a complimentary order, and they rushed on 
us and hugged us like brothers in their enthusiasm. The 
cause of this last demonstration was soon explained to us. 
In February previous, a Federal force had made a raid on 
Dug Gap. drove the cavalry then guarding it away, and 
this same force which reinforced us was sent to retake the 
position, which it did after a hard fight in which the 
loss was considerable. Tlie infantry had never consid- 
ered the cav^alry of much account as a fighting force and 
assumed quite a contempt for that branch of the service; 
but when they witnessed what we had done, there was 
one body of cavalry exempted from the general condem- 
nation and we ever afterward held their respect and good 
will. 

Tn this tight we lost one man killed and three wound- 
ed, whil(A the loss of the enemy was necessarily heavy. 
An officer of Cheathanrs corps, who was on the ground 
next morning, estimated the Federal loss at seven liun- 
dred, although most of the dead and wounded had been 
removed from the field. 

On being relieved we mounted our horses and pro- 
ceeded South about two miles and camped in the only 
clover field I ever saw in Georgia. This was a rich treat 
for our horses and as we had a ])retty fair supper, everv- 



l8o > REMINISCENCES 

thing was serene and we laid down to enjoy a good night's 
rest. 

A little before daybreak the bugle sounded and we 
were soon mounted and on our way to Snake Creek Gap, 
where we expected a repetition of yesterday. McPher- 
son was moving down the West side of the mountain and 
we were having a race for the crossings. We secured the 
services of a citizen to guide us to the gap and instead of 
taking a right hand road as we should have done, we kept 
the main road until we reached the Kesaca road, then up 
it to the gap. In other words, instead of following the 
hypothenuse, we traveled the other two angles, lengthen- 
ing our trip about three miles and throwing us an houi* 
late. As a consequence the enemy had arrived at the gap, 
quietly captured the guard and laid a very pretty ambus- 
cade for us, into which we unsuspectingly rode, and were 
suddenly roused from our meditations by a terrible vol- 
ley poured into the column in front of us. The First Ken- 
tucky was in rear of the column and out of the fire; the 
Ninth was in front with the Second in their rear and Col- 
onel Breck en ridge in command of the brigade. The un- 
dergrowth was so thick on both sides of the road that the 
boys could neither charge nor run. Colonel Breckenridge 
came back to us and when he saw us standing quietly do- 
ing nothing he became excited and made a dash toward 
Major Chenowith with anger depicted on his face. The 
Major was the only regimental officer with us and he had 
been ordered under arrest for something he had said to our 
Colonel the day before. 

When Colonel Breckenridge reached the Major h(^ 
said to him, ^'Major, why are you not fighting your men?'^ 

''My sword is not mine today. I am under arrest/ 
said the major. 




A, R. Yeizer (Bruz) and Wife. 



The huDgry man of Compatjy A, First Kentucky Cavalry ; would eat at all the 
houses on the march and come into camp hungry. Went with Gen. Morgan into 
Ohio ; was captured and kept in prison until close of war. He loved to tight as 
well as to eat. and this is what got him into trouble. He thinks yet that blue 
makes an uglier uniform than any other color. 

He is a citizen ofOweusboro, Ky., engaged in stock trading, and keeps open 
house for all old Confederate soldiers, in all of which he is ably seconded by his 
good wife. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. l8i 

''My God, Major, will you stand here and see my men 
cut to pieces and not go to tlieir aid?'' said the Colonel. 

'Til be d — d if 1 do," said the Major. "Forward" and 
he led us around through a field into an open woods in 
the rear of the Federals where we charged and I'outed 
them, capturing over twenty prisoners and losing one 
killed and five captured. 

Lieutenant Tom C. Jones, our present minister at 
Funchal, was shot through the instep and Captain Bill 
Taylor's mare received a slight wound in the shoulder. A 
few of the boys in the road were slightly wounded, but 
none killed, w^hich seems wonderful, owing to the close 
range and can only be acocunted for by the density of the 
undergrowth, which formed a breastwork and stopped the 
bullets before they reached them. 

We had failed to beat the Federals to Snake Creek 
and our only hope now was to keep them there and the 
hope was a rather slim one as they outnumbered us so 
greatly but we prepared to give them the best measure we 
could for their monev. 




r HAPTER XIll. 

IN the meantime SheiJiian bad reinfoioed McPheison. 
wbo was to attack Johnston at Resaca while he sent 
a hiro;e force down the west side of Rocky Face and under 
the cover of tliat mountain, to cross the Ostanaula near 
Calhonn, get in our rear and fall on our army from front, 
flank and rear simultaneously. To cover this move we 
were attacked in force at Resaca in order to hold our army 
at this point and give the enemy time to carry out liis 
plans; but owing to the efficiency of our cavalry, (General 
Johnston was kept informed of all movements and Sher- 
man never arrived at any point that he did not find some- 
body there waiting for him. But to get back to my nar- 
rative. We skirmished with the enemy between Snake 
Creek and Resaca for three days with no serious engage- 
ment and no result except our gradual retirement toward 
the town, but we discovered that there was work not far 
ahead and made ready for it. By daylight on the morn- 
ing of the 14th we were in line confidently expecting an at- 
tack and were not disappointed. We were formed acrost-? 
the road leading from town with companies A, E and CI 
of the First Kentucky to the left of the road and thf^ 
balance of the brigade to the right. There was a field 
about a hundred and fifty yards wide in front of our three 
companies and the balance of the line was in the timber. 
On the left, some four hundred yards to the river, we had 
no force, but had deployed flankers to watch for a move 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER, 



183 



nient from that quarter. Soon after sunrise we heard 
firing in front which was qnickly foUowed by the appear- 
ance of onr pickets closely followed by Kilpatrick and his 
brigade in colnnin of "fours'' led by the General. His plan 
was, when he reached the field, to ''right front into line,'' 
but owing to the thick growth of bushes on the side of 
the road this move could not be executed until they 
reached the field, which was so close to our line that we 
had easy range and could concentrate our fire on one place, 
and we emptied saddles and tumbled horses so fast that 
those who could, were glad to withdraw. As soon as we 
repulsed the charge we were ordered to withdraw, and, 
after leading the line and mouutinii' our horses, were or- 
dered to dismount and take our old position. During 
our absence the enemy removed their dead and wounded, 
among the latter. General Kilpatrick — shot through the 
thigh. The next charge was made in line and dismount- 
ed, which we repulsed handsomely, and were again or- 
dered to retreat. Lieutenant John Lamar and I were 
the last to leave (he field, and just as we turned to leave 
a ball shattered the lieutenant's heel. T was by his side, 
jnevented him from falling and assisted him to his horse. 
We were again ordered back to our place in the line and 
found the Yankees out in the field and coming on. Cap- 
tain Howell sent me over a little hill to the left to watch 
for flank movement and I became engaged in a duel with 
a Yankee who seemed to be out on the same business as T. 
There was a little ridge between us on which was a tumble 
down fence of four or five rails high. We pulled dow n on 
each other about the same time, but he fired first and his 
ball struck me on the hip, making me flinch and throwing 
me off my aim. This made me a little mad, and I reload- 
ed in a hurry. Just as he raised his gun to fire I pulled 



I §4 REMINISCENCES 

trij>j>ei* and his ball struck the ^T«UDd close to my foot. 
''Did you hit him?" Well, I am glad to say 1 don't 
know, but I had a ij:ood aim at short range and the Sprinj>- 
field rifle that I used has brought squirrels out of the 
highest trees for me and never missed a hog, running or 
standing, under two hundred yards, especially when T 
was hungry, which my messmates can testify, was pretty 
much all the time. Before the smoke of my gun blew away 
I heard a big racket to my right and rear and going to the 
top of the ridge to investigate, I saw our line in full re- 
treat with the Yankees following closely. There was no 
chance for me to regain my company, so I ran down to 
where Si Bingham, Frank Camp and Coley Bacey were 
guarding the left, told the news and we all struck out for 
the river. They being mounted, arrived first, plunged in 
and swam across. By the time I reached the river the 
Yankees were in shooting distance and I didn't want to be 
shot down like a dog in the water, and to tell the truth, 
I couldnt' swim very well anyhow, so I didn't go down into 
the water, for I was afraidj would not come up straight- 
way out of it. I ran up the river bank till I came to the 
mouth of Conasauga, which I found too deep to ford, up 
it to the bridge, which 1 crossed at a 2:40 gait. There is 
a high, steep hill on the west bank of the Conasauga which 
extends nearly down to the Oostanaula. This hill had 
shielded me till I reached the bridge, and although I could 
see our cavalry passing through Resaca and crossing th«^ 
bridge, I supposed that our infantry still held the hill. 
Judge of my surprise when after going some two hun- 
dred yards the bullets began to patter around me like 
hailstones, and on looking around for the cause, I saw 
the top of the hill blue with Yankees and every one of 
them trying his marksmanship on me. Yes, boys, I pulled 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 35 

my freight, and pulled it lively. I suppose tliat 1 was 
making Maud ^. time, but it appeared to me that I could 
not have kept pace Avith a snail. Our breastworks were 
a thousand yards off and nothing to shield me, while the 
bullets were cutting ihe dust all around. Ye gods, but 
I felt spotted, and 1 have no doubt that my eyes would 
haye made good coat hooks. When I had made about half 
the distance and they had failed to bring me down, the 
Yanks quit firing and amused themselves yelling, ''run, 
Johnny, run." Well, E obeyed orders if they w^ere given 
by Yankees, and never stopped running till I tumbled in- 
side of the works. About this time Colonel Hotchkiss 
had got a battalion of artillery planted on the hill and 
from the throats of thirty two pieces began to pour shells 
into us, first in detail and then by volley and made it so Ivot: 
that it was dangerous to get out of the ditches, so I just 
stayed where I w^as, and by this means participated in the 
battle of Resaca, although it was not on the bills. J got 
caught in this scrape like I did in Chickamauga, unin- 
tentionally, but my guardian angel protected me, as be- 
fore, and pulled me through^ but like efake Fullenweider 
got to heaven, "mit a tam tight squeeze." 

All day long the battle raged. After a terrible can- 
nonnade which covered us wath the clay of our breast- 
works, the enemy would charge us with his infantry line, 
which we would repulse and charge to the cover of his 
artillery. The conformation of the ground w^as such that 
when their line came within three hundred j^ards of our 
works, it was within range of their shells, which gave us a 
chance to raise our heads and go at them. While a por- 
tion of our force w^ould charge the enemy, after repulsing 
him, others would be repairing the damage done to our 
works by his artillery. Thus the fight was kept up till 



1 86 REMINISCENCES 

nine o'clock at nii>lit when hostilities ceased, with honors 
on our side. When the trouble quieted down, I started 
out to find my regiment, which had been defending a ford 
on the river below Resaca, where Sherman attempted to 
cross a force in order to tlank us in our poistion. Unable 
to accomplish his object, fc^herman withdrew his forces a 
short distance and gave us a rest. Our brigade camped 
in a groA^e about three miles south of Resaca, where I 
found them about midnight. Bingham had reported me 
standing on the bank of the river with the Yankees clos- 
ing in on me, and the general opinion prevailed that 1 was 
captured or killed, the latter acepted as most probable. 
Acting on this conclusion, mj messmates proceeded to ad- 
minister on my estate which inventoried one horse, saddle 
and bridle — my spurs, pistols and gun had shared my fate 
— one pair of saddle pockets, one gray flannel shirt, well 
worn and in need of washing and mending. One pair 
socks with the feet worn off — also dirt}' — one testament, 
the gift of my good, religious sweetheart and not badly 
worn except on the outside ; a few private letters from the 
girl I left behind me, and others; needle book with but- 
tons and thread and my diary. After locating my mess- 
mates I approached them in the dark, halted just outside 
of the range of vision and listened. My sudden taking off 
did not seem to distress them greatly, but they were great- 
ly troubled over how to distribute my worldly possessions. 
While standing there listening to the different sugges- 
tions and remarks of my comrades, Rip Van Winkle's ex- 
pression, 'iiow soon we are forgotten," came very forcibly 
to my mind,, and 1 could not refrain from feeling a pang 
of disappointment at the apparent callousness of my most 
trusted friends. 

But the boys finally came to an understanding. They 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER 



187 



gave my horse to one of the boys whose horse was wound- 
ed, the saddlebags to another of the company to carry in 
my memory. The shirt and sock tops to one of the boys 
who had neither, my diary to Billy Hughes, to be contin- 
ued, and my testament and letters to Captain Howell who 
was to return them and break the sad news to my mother 
and sweetheart by the first opportunity. About the time 
they had completed their labors I walked in on them and 
took a hand myself. All begrimed with dust and pow- 
der smoke, as I was, they failed to recognize me until 1 
spoke, when they piled onto me, and but that I knew their 
demonstrations were prompted by dijfferent motives, T 
would, for a few minutes as soon have been back in the 
ditches in front of Colonel Hotchkiss and his guns. But 
joy never kills, and I pulled through to recover all my be- 
longings except my shirt and socks! ?). 

When (leneral Kilpatrick made his charge on our 
pickets in front of Resaca he followed them with his brig- 
ade with the expectation of breaking our outer line and 
gaining a point where he could observe and report our 
movements. He succeeded in getting himself wounded 
and a lot of his men and horses killed and disabled while 
our loss was very small. Lieutenant Lamar, through the 
instep, and John Ryle, through the shoulder — both of our 
company — were the only ones seriously hurt, while a few 
more of us were slightly touched, but not enough to stop 
us from duty. After Ryle's wound healed he was as- 
signed to courier duty on (ieneral Williams' staff, as he 
was unable to do regular duty, the bullet having seveied 
the large leader on top of his shoulder, disabling him from 
using a rifle. John was a brave and true soldier and 
proved his devotion to his cause under all circumstances. 
He was one of the last to lav down his arms when the end 



1 88 REMINISCENCES 

came and one of the first to aceepf the situation and ad- 
just himself to the new order. 

In September, 1865, he went as assistant pilot on the 
steamer Palestine, then running^ between Cincinnati and 
New Orleans and three years after, during an epidemic 
of yellow fever, was stricken with the disease, died and 
lies buried at Bayou Bara, La. He could have escaped by 
stopping off here as his mother and friends advised him to 
do, but he said no, and died at his post. 

Rjle and T had engaged to go together on the same 
boat in 1865, and had all arrangements made, but o wing- 
to a slight accident I was delayed for over a month, and 
by that time had got at something else. I finally mar- 
ried, "therefore, I couldn't go," and h^-e I am yet. If our 
plans had carried, I might be lying alongside of John in- 
stead of writing these papers. But "there's a Divinity 
that shapes our ends," and I will try to say "amen" to 
my lot. 

On the 15th, Sherman made a general assault on our 
lines at Resaca with the bulk of his force, while he sent a 
strong detachment to cross the river near Calhoun and 
get in the rear of our army. We knew of this move, but 
did not know just where he would attempt to effect the 
crossing, so our brigade was strung along the river bank 
as a kind of skirmish line which extended for twelve or 
fifteen miles. Of course we were very much scattered^ 
but were so arranged as to be in communicating distance, 
and by this means could apprise General Johnston very 
quickly of the movements of the enemy. Cobb's battery 
was detailed to act in concert with us and his six pieces 
were scattered along the river at points of 'vantage the 
whole length of our line. The Yankees were moving down 
the opposite side of the river and we could trace their 




John h Shaw, 



Was horn in Duplin county, N. C, SeptemVjer 19tb, 1844. Enlistctl as musician 
in Company B, Third North Carolina Infantry, and served through the war. He 
served with Stocewall Jackson through the Valley of Virginia: was in all the en- 
gagements around Richmond and Petersburg, and surrendered at Appomatox. In 
J867 he moved to Hopkins county, Ky., where he has since been engaged in farm- 
ing. He has been twice elected Justice of the I'cace of the First Magisterial Dist- 
rict of his county, which office he now holds. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 1 89 

line of march b}^ the dust they raised, and our artillery 
kept up a desultory tiring at the streak of dust by way 
of keeping' them informed of our watchfulness, but with 
no other result. But a shell fired from one of our guns 
on a hill just in my rear came near causing me to stam- 
pede. I was standing behind a big tree watching for 
bluecoats to show themselves on the other side of the river 
when the gun above me was fired. The shell — a conical — 
struck a limb in the top of my tree, ricochetted and whirl- 
ed and whizzed around that tree in a most alarming man- 
ner. It seemed to be after me like the lightning that 
chased the squirrel down the twisting gum and — you may 
laugh if you want to — I tried to emulate the squirrel and 
keep ahead of the shell. When it finally fell and ex- 
ploded in the middle of the river, I felt very much relieved, 
though somewhat chagrined at the ''ha. ha" of the battery 
boys on the hill. Now, I want to say to all you who are 
disposed to be amused at my actions on this occasion, if 
you will try it yourself you won't find it the least bit 
funny. With four years' close association with the darned 
things and holding an utter contempt for them while lying 
in the ordnance depot, 1 want to tell you, that when they 
go flying recklessly through the air, utterly devoid of 
common sense, they are bad things to tackle, and T have 
never met one under the latter circumstances that I 
failed to treat it with as much consideration and respect 
as I would the Queen of England, should she visit our 
shores. Chesterfield wasn't in it with the Kentucky bri- 
gade when shells were fl.ying — but Kentuckians are al- 
ways gentlemen, and know how to act it on all occasions. 
Don't give us credit for this. But you say, "he is growing 
facetious." Well, perhaps I am; but if it is fighting 30U 
want, you shall have it from now on, and if you get as 
13 



jQO REMINISCENCES 

tired of it as we who had it to do, 3 ou will be g^lad when 
the war ends. 

We got word that Sherman's cavalry had driven Fer- 
guson's brigade from the ferry at Calhoun and atfec-ted a 
crossing. Abandoning our picket line we mounted and 
after getting together, struck out in a gallop for that 
point. On our arrival we found a considerable force of 
Yankees on our side of the riA'er. As time was pressing, 
we did not wait to parley, but charged at once and drove 
them back across. 

Cobb, by this time, brought up his guns and knocked 
Iheir pontoons into smithereens, thus checking another of 
Sherman's flank movements. Up to this time w^e had 
most delightful spring weather with nothing to mar, ex- 
cept the dust. But now the scene changes. The contin- 
ual cannonading for two weeks had taken effect on the at- 
mosphere and as if in sympathy, the skies were o'ercast 
with clouds, lightning flashed, thunder roared and the 
rain came down in torrents. For sixty days and nights 
the rain continued to fall with but short intermissions 
and for the same length of time we were wet, for the rea- 
son that we had no way to keep dry, even if our friends, 
"the enemy,'' had given us the chance. They were the 
meanest set of men I ever saw, for every time the rain be- 
gan to pour they would charge us, hoping to catch us 
with our breeches — 1 mean — our powder wet. But in this 
they were mistaken, for we had captured enough rubber 
blankets from them already to cover our guns and am- 
munition and were always ready when they called on us. 
But I am getting a little ahead of my narartive. We 
are now at Calhoun, holding Sherman's flanking force in 
check until Johnston can whip his main force at Resaca. 
Owing to Sherman's superior force he is enabled to engage 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 191 

Jotinston and at the s^ame time make a heavy demonstra- 
tion on Johnston's left. As Johnston could spare but a 
small force to combat this move, he was again compelled 
to retire further south. His first line was formed just 
in the rear of Calhoun, and while the move was being exe- 
cuted, you may depend the cavalry had work to do. We 
had to cover the movements of the balance of the army, 
and as the enemy was pushing for the same position, we 
had no easy time. After all our hard work was done and 
the lines formed ready for the battle we all expected. Gen- 
eral Johnston again withdrew to the valley of Oothca- 
lauga, north of Adairsville, about fifteen miles south of 
Calhoun. While this movement was being executed it 
was our business to delay the enemy so that our army 
could get ready for the battle that was again expected. 
How well we performed that duty can be better judged 
when we consider the time we were at it. By continued 
fighting day and night, first here, then there, ubiquitous, 
as it were, with the rain pouring down, streams swollen, 
no time to eat, and nothing to drink, Williams' division of 
cavalry, composed of the First, Second and Ninth regi- 
ments and Second Kentucky battalions and DibbrelTs 
Tennessee brigade, held Sherman's army of sixty-fivf^ 
thousand cavalry, infantry and artillery in check for four 
days, and this in open ground without any natural advan- 
tages to assist in the defense. 

When we had succeeded in whipping^?) the Yankees 
back to Adairsville, General Johnston again concluded to 
retreat, and we were again left to "buck the tiger." John- 
ston retired to Cassville and Sherman divided his forces, 
sending a portion toward Cassville and the rest toward 
Kingston. This entailed double duty on us, and we wen^ 
kept on the run from one point to the other; in other 



IQ2 REMINISCENCES 

words, we were '^between tlie devil and the deep sea/' Al- 
though General Johnston did not risk a battle, he had 
every preparation made for one at every point. Rifle pits, 
ditches and other fortifications were ready for us, but as 
the drainage was deficient, they w^ere generally full of 
muddy water; notwithstanding this, we never hesitated to 
take water when the bullets were flying. Cold water w^as 
much to be preferred to cold lead, and w^e often sat in wa- 
ter up to our waists for hours at a time. Boys, we could 
not help it, and you would do it, too, under the same cir- 
cumstances. 

And now, we had Sherman's army cut in two, and felt 
a little like the fellow who had a fat sweetheart and 
hugged her one side at a time. We thought we had "a 
soft thing," and expected Johnston to '^wipe up" Sher- 
man "one side at a time," and end the war. Alas, for our 
calculations. General Johnston couldn't see it, and with- 
drew his army across the Etowah — except us — and we 
had it on us again. This was one of the greatest disap- 
pointments we had met with. We knew that we had 
Sherman's army cut in two, with the divisions so wide 
apart that it would have taken several hours to unite them 
had they met with no opposition. General Johnston had 
even issued his order of battle and every man was ready 
with his forty rounds and three days' rations. We ate the 
rations for breakfast, however, to get them out of our way, 
as we had no surplus storage on the outside and didn't 
want to lose them in battle. They were too scarce to fool 
away . 

It turned out that Sherman intended to attack John- 
ston from both sides and crush him, as it were, between 
the upper and nether mill stone. This was a dangerous 
move on Sherman's part, even with his superior force; and 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. IQ3 

we always will think that Stonewall Jackson's tactics 
would have won in this instance. There has been some 
controversy between President Davis and General John- 
ston over this affair, on which I will not attempt to pass 
judgment. General Johnston was on the field and Mr. 
Da;sis was in Richmond. General Johnston says that 
Generals llood and Polk — his two main lieutenants — ad- 
vised against a battle. Without expressing an opinion 
as to the proper thing to have been done, I will say that 
Johnston was a great general and enjoyed the perfect 
confidence of his men and officers. Had his critics been 
in his shoes I doubt if they could have improved on his 
acts. But I find I am getting ''off my beat,"' and discussing 
the mistakes of the war which I assure my readers was 
unintentional. 

Our own General Cerro Gordo Williams — ''Old Pap" 
— rode down our lines, with blood in his eye, and had he 
said nothing, we knew by his looks that there was work 
ahead. General Williams was a fighter, and won his 
spurs and "sobriquet" at Cerro Gordo, Mexico, where with 
his squadron he charged and captured a Mexican battery 
and saved the day for the Americans. Although the Gen- 
eral was older and had grown to be a three hundred 
pounder, he had lost none of his fighting vigor, and the 
man who followed him always went far enough. As the 
General rode along and — parodising Lord Nelson at Tra- 
falgar — remarked that "the Confederacy had its eyes on 
Kentucky," every man expected that we would hold the 
most important place in the line and we w^ere not disap- 
pointed. The battle opened in our front and we met the 
assault with such determination that the Yankees failed 
to drive us from our position. After repulsing the charge 
we listened anxiously for the guns on our left, but all was 



194 REMINISCENCES 

quiet. A second charge was made, which we repulsed 
handsomely, but still no news from the left. About this 
time a black cloud came up from the West and a terrific 
thunder storm broke on us. While this was raging we 
were ordered to mount and marched by the right flank to- 
w^ards Calhoun, expecting all the time to run into the en- 
emy, but as we afterwards learned, were making our es- 
cape from between Sherman's two wings which were 
nearing each other and would soon meet on the ground 
we had just left. It turned out that we were left to coyer 
the retreat of our our army, and were the only troops 
north of the Ettowah. We were to be sacrificed as a for- 
lorn hope to saye the balance of Johnston's army. 

"All things work together for good to those who love 
the Lord and are called according to his purpose." This 
quotation is not made flippantly, but with a due respect 
for that mysterious, oyerruling Proyidence which notes 
the "sparrow^'s fall," and which I firmly belieye exercises 
an influence oyer our liyes. I do not wish to spring a con- 
troyersy between those who hold to the doctrine of "elec- 
tion," and those who belieye in "works" and the "prom- 
ises." "For the Lord is good, and His mercy endureth 
foreyer." "His ways are not our ways;" and 

"The Lord works in a mysterious way, 
His wonders to perform ; 
He plants his foot upon the sea. 
And rides upon the storm." 

But for that storm we, perhaps would haye been cap- 
tured. 

All the old soldiers will remember how much the 
thunder claps resembled the artillery discharges. There 
was no rumbling, but keen claps, like the firing of a can- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



195 



non. As the thunder was heaviest on our left the thunder 
olaps appeared to the enemy and to us to be cannon- 
ading, which caused them to delay their advance long- 
enough to enable us to escape. I have since learned that 
the two wings of Sherman's army came together at this 
point, and each mistaking the other for us, had a nice 
little set-to before they found out their mistake. This 
may not be true, but it is not improbable, as mistakes of 
this kind occurred often, and in one instance, cost us the 
life of one of our. greatest generals — Stonew all Jackson. 
And speaking of General Jackson reminds me that it is 
generally understood that he was about the only Christian 
soldier, with the exception, perhaps, of General Lee, in our 
army. There never was a greater mistake made in the 
world. Our Kentucky brigade was composed of the best 
element of Kentucky manhood, gathered from all parts of 
the state. With but a very few exceptions, every mem- 
ber left a good, old Christian mother at home, wiiose 
prayers followed him and wiiose petitions to the throne of 
Grace were, "that he should do his duty to his God and 
his country." 

While w'e boys were a little reckless and were often 
tempted to overstep the bounds and gratify our inclina- 
tions, mother's injunction, "do right, my son," would loom 
up and restrain as. And then, we had religious services 
in camp whenever we could, and there were but few w^ho 
absented themselves. There was a kind of Masonry in 
these meetings, and regardless of church afliliations. all 
attended. We had a Jew in our company — Anthony Nes- 
tlehood — and although he did not endorse all he heard, he 
still seemed to think that it was in the right direction. 
He was a regular attendant and seemed to take a special 
interest in the prayers of another one of our company — 



196 



REMINISCENCES 



Jos R. Jonigan. Jonigan was a vei^ quiet man, who had 
but little to say. jet when duty called, was always at his 
post. While there was nothing extra brilliant about Jon- 
igan, he commanded the respect of all who knew him. He 
endeavored to discharge his duty at ail times and was an 
active member of the semi-weekly x)rayer meetings. Jon- 
igan was illiterate and could not command as eloquent 
language as some others, but what he lacked in eloquence 
he made up in fervor. This caught Nestlehood, and al- 
though not a believer, he was greatly impressed. One 
night, after one of these meetings, Nestlehood approached 
me with a very serious look, and said, ''Sarchint, did you 
ever her Chonigan 'bray?" "Yes," said I. "Why do you 
ask, Nes?" ''Ober I vas Yesus Ghrist," said he, "den I 
gif him vat he vants." 

"Why so, 'Nes'?" said I. 

"Veil," said he, "he brays like he means peesness." 
This reason 'of Nestlehood's has always seemed to me a 
good one. But more of Jonigan and Nestlehood here- 
atfer. 

After slipping out from between the two wings of 
Sherman's army in front of Cassville, we had to work our 
way around the left wing and get back to our army, then 
south of the Ettowah. This entailed a continuous march 
of thirty-six hours, which was made through the rain and 
without anything to eat or feed our horses. It is easy to 
imagine that we were tired, hungry and generally out of 
sorts. But with all our gloom, we managed to meet the 
issues philosophically and "make the best of it." Some 
one would do or say something to put the camp in good 
humor, and with the duties of the next day our troubles 
would be forgotten. I remember, on the night spoken of, 
while vainlv trving to start a fire to infuse a little warmth 




John c. Latham. 

A KENTUCKY PRIVATE. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



197 



and cheer us up a little, with "euises, not loud but deep," 
nearly all of us were deploring the day we were born, 
Alex Barrett — our Irishman — from a big stump for a ros- 
trum, delivered an original!?) speech about as follows: 

"My father was a farmer, good. 

With corn and beef in plenty; 
I mowed and hoed and held the plow. 
And longed for one and twenty. 

"For I had quite a martial turn, 

And scorned the lowing cattle; 
I burned to wear a uniform, 
Hear drums and see a battle." 

That settled it, and the old "rebel yell" went up lus- 
tily from the throats of our command, was taken up by 
the rest of the army and resounded for miles to the right 
and left till all caught the contagion. The Yankees ht^ard 
it, supposed we had been reinforced and were a little < are- 
ful how^ they crowded on us for the next few days. And 
so it w^as all the way through. When everything looked 
dark and dismal, and we were on the eve of discourage- 
ment, something w^ould oc(uir to liven us, and as soon as 
we could get a little rest and "stuffin'," we w^ere ready 
again for whatever came up. It was well for our reputa- 
tion that we could thus adapt ourselves to circumstances 
else we could not have held out as we did and made so 
good a reputation for the American volunteer soldier. 
While the Yankee soldier did not have the half to con- 
tend with that we had, yet he, too. had his "ups and 
downs," and to his credit be it said, could adapt himself 
to circumstances and prove himself worthy of his ances- 



198 REMINISCENCES 

try. But if we had Lad him wheie he had us, a June 
frost would have been long lived by comparison. 

What is "writ is writ" and the public has read of the 
gallant deeds of the difierent General Officers in both ar- 
mies: but the true inwardness of the great struggle will 
never be rightly understood by the reading public until 
some Walter Scott or Fennimore Cooper, in after years 
weaves a web of romance around the life of the private 
soldier. Without detracting anything from the fame of 
those in command, our country can truthfully say. ''bu»t 
for the patriotism and bravery of our men in the ranks we 
would be the "laughing stock" of the world, contemptible 
in our own estimation and unworthy the freedom we now 
enjoy. As every man in the ranks — worthy the name of 
soldier — was actuated by patriotic motives and acted on 
them our country came out of the fight with nothing to 
regret except the loss of so many of her patriotic sons who 
might have been better emj)loyed. We can all see it now, 
when it is too late to remedy. Four years of war "kinder 
cooled our copper," and thirty years of peace have given 
us time to reflect, so you need not be suriH'ised if another 
war comes on to see us "old fellows'' taking a back seat. 
But you may depend that, if the cause is just, we will say 
"sick 'em boys," and encourage every one of you young 
bloods to immolate yourself on the altar of your coun- 
try. There is nothing like being a soldier once in life, but 
too much of a thing — even a good thing — becomes monot- 
onous. But, boys, if we do get into a ''scrap" with Spain, 
I want you to show the grit of your old granddaddies and 
never give up the ship. But don't go to war if you can 
keep from it and hold your self-respect. 

Speaking for the old Confederate soldiers, I think I 
can say that they have no particular love for "John Bull." 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. igg 

We all remember that while our w ar was racing and every 
able-bodied man in the Confederacy was at the front and 
our women and children left defenseless, numbers of En- 
glishmen in the South took refuge under the cross of St. 
George, worked their slaves, saved their property and 
grew rich out of our necessities. They contributed noth- 
ing to the defense of the Union or the Confederacy; sold 
their products for gold — they refused all other money — 
and while the fortunes of war stripped their neighbors of 
slaves and other property, they enjoyed perfect immunity. 

1 remember on one occasion when on a scout with Si 
Bingham, George Quarles, Alex Barrett and Walker How- 
ell, we came upon a plantation belonging to an English- 
man and he had it decorated as if for a holiday. British 
flags waved from the top of the ''castle," barn and negro 
quarters; little flags waved all over the sorghum field, in 
the peanut patch, all around the outside fence and to make 
security more secure, a good looking "quadroon" was 
standing in the front gate waving a British flag. 

This was enough for me, but I had hard work to keep 
the other boys from abducting the pretty quadroon and 
burning the ranch. I have since regretted that I did not 
let them have their way and leave an unbroken path of 
desolation through the South, and, by giving our English 
Lord the same medicine we had to take, make him a 
good American citizen. England played "pig and puppy'^ 
with our country in our late war, "holding with the hare 
and running with the hounds,'' in the hope of profiting by 
our trouble. She held out fair promises to both sides 
without any serious intention of keeping them when they 
conflicted with her financial interests, and it has always 
been my opinion that she hoped to encourage us and con- 
tinue the war until both sides were exhausted and then 



200 REMINISCENCES 

in the name of huDianity(?) step in and take charge of the 
whole business. England don't like to stay whipped, al- 
though we have done it to her twice, and it is my private 
opinion that we will have to do it again one of these fine 
days. She is a bully and a boaster and like all that ilk, 
will take advantage of the timid and weak when allowed 
to run loose. But Uncle Sam is ^'some pumpkins" him- 
self and has a President and Congress with backbone, in- 
dorsed by seventy millions of people, all agreed and un- 
less Mr. Bull hauls in his horns there's going to be trouble. 
And it won't be a little Boston tea scrape nor question of 
''right of search and seizure," but one of annihilation of 
European powers from the American continent. By all 
right and reason, they should be driven out. and our coun- 
try will never enjoy perfect security and peace until this 
is accomplished. This I think is a fact recognized by our 
greatest statesmen and no one may be surprised if this 
is the beginning of the end. I am opposed to war, but for 
my country and her rights. War may not come, but, 
"boys/' trust in God and keep your powder dry. 

Away back forty years ago, when the boundary of 
Union county extended almost to Providence, there was a 
settlement known as Floyd's precinct. There were two 
noted characters in this settlement and the whole popula- 
tion was somewhat unique. But "Uncle" Johnny Vaughn 
and Bill Pullum were the principal leaders. Pulluni kept 
a country grocery and purveyed "shuggar,'' "kaughphy" 
and "kaliker," while "Uncle" Johnny was a kind of "king 
bee" in the settlement, decided all questions of "meum 
and "teum," officiated as best man at all weddings, fu- 
nerals, horse races, shooting matches and any other oc- 
casions of importance to the community. In fact, nothing 
of a public nature was undertaken until he had given 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 201 

aiitlunity. Now and then some of the younger members 
would (as they always will) fall out and Avant to fight. It 
was the custom of the male members of the settlement to 
meet at Pullum's grocery on Saturday afternoon, ex- 
change neighborhood news, and discuss political and re- 
ligious matters. In order to arrive at a correct under- 
standing of the latter subject it seemed to be necessary to 
imbibe freely of Bill's "elixir of life," otherwise known 
as whisky. On one of these occasions, after firing their 
spiritual i)ressure up to the danger point, two young 
bloods decided to settle their differences "fist and skull," 
then and there, but "Uncle Johnny" interfered and ad- 
journed the f^ncounter to a level spot where the rules of 
the settlement could be carried out. (This was before the 
Marquis of Queensbury was heard of.) Perched on a 
stump, Uncle Johnny gave the order for the fight to be- 
gin and the two contestans went at each other with such 
vim and vengeance as to soon involve their friends who 
pitched into each other, hammer and tongs, and soon a 
general-all-round-free fight was raging, in which all but 
"Uncle Johnny" were taking a hand. Being helpless un- 
der such circumstances "Uncle Johnny" sat quietly on his 
stump until the combatants had finished pounding each 
other and returned from the branch where they had 
was-hed away, as well as they could, the evidences of the 
biawl, he came down from his perch and, as if nothing un- 
usual had happened, quietly remarked, "boys, let's get 
back to our drinkin'." Now as we have "done "England 
up." as "Uncle Johnny" would say, "let's get back to our 
fightin'." 

You remember that we had just slipped out of the 
"cul de sac" fixed for us by Sherman and were trying to 
kindle fires with wood soakinj^; wet, and that Alex Bar- 



202 REMINISCENCES 

• 
rett's declamation put us all in a good humor. Despair- 
ing of kindling a fire we made a virtue of necessity, like 
Colonel Sellers, drew on our imagination for comfort and 
retired to our downy(?) beds and slept as well as we did 
when as '^mother's pet" we were snugly tucked under good 
warm blankets with mother's kiss warm on our lips and 
with "good night, mamma," our eyes closed on the world 
and its troubles. And all this when the rain was pouring 
down and we with no covering but the clouds, a ragged 
uniform and God's mercy. But the scene changed early 
the next morning. One of our scouts brought the news 
that a Yankee wagon train was passing within about 
three miles of our camp and apparently unguarded. This 
was enough, but Tom Kichards said to us through his 
bugle: 

"There's grub in the air, boys, 
There's grub in the air; 

You want it, go get it 

In spite of the picket ; 
It's yours if you will it. 
What say you? How is it? 

In almost less time than it takes to write it we were 
mounted and on our way to loot that train and did go 
through it in the most approved style. We did not at- 
tempt to carry our capture away as that would have been 
slow and risky. We and our horses were very hungry and 
relief was at hand. As it happened this was a combi- 
nation supply train for a cavalry brigade and exactly 
suited our needs. Without wasting any time, we treated 
our horses to hay and corn and then turned ourselves 
loose on the commissary wagons. In these we found ba- 
con, crackers, canned goods of every description and — 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



203 



''yum, yum'' — one wagou was loaded with ^'shore iiuft'" 
coffee. Every man stuffed in his mouth witli one hand 
while he stutt'ed his haversack and pockets — if he had any 
— with the other — and our horses seemed to be as much 
interested in their part as we. Poor brutes! How faith- 
ful they were at all times, what privations they suffered, 
yet how true Avas their attachment to their masters. I 
have often felt that our cavalry horses were possessed of 
almost human intelligence. 

But we were not allowed to feast very long. The 
Yankees found out about dinner time that something was 
wrong and came back to see about it. As we had stuffed 
ourselves full on their best grub, we were too polite to 
quarrel with them, so left the charred remains of their 
train as a marker, took their mules and teamsters and lit 
out for our own lines. We came near having a difficulty 
with them over this matter, but got out of it by outrun- 
ning them. It would have been very ungenerous in us 
to have eaten their rations and then whipped them. 

From here back to Atlanta our retreat was more grad- 
ual and — wet as it was — more powder was burnt. Our 
horses had an easier time but we were put in the ditches 
and rifle pits along with the infantry. Sherman began a 
siege, as it were, and occupied our attention night and 
day. One-half our force would be on duty in the trenches 
while the other half w ere lying on their arms a few rods 
in the rear trying to get a little rest. Our provisions, such 
as we had, were brought to us and we ate them the best w(^ 
could between assaults of the enemy. Fortunately, 
rations were short and we did not have to lose much time 
disposing of them. And it rained and rained day and 
night but still the fun(?) went on. We were wet and mud- 
dy to the skin and had no dry clothes to change. The 



204 REMINISCENCES 

greatest satisfaction we had was in contemplating the dis- 
comfort of our particular friends, the "body lice.*" a con- 
stant mud and water diet gaA^e them malarial fever and 
millions of them turned up their little toes and took their 
flight to "louse heaven" or wherever the good lice go. 
Ours must have been good lice for they stuck to us 
through thick and thin and never deserted us while life 
lasted. Yea, they stuck closer than a brother and when 
they did depart, left us seed by which to perpetuate their 
memory. Great was the army louse and his fame will be 
perpetuated w^hile an old soldier lives to bear witness to 
his valiant achievements. 

But the fighting went on all the same and the rain 
continued to pour. Sherman w ould crowd one portion of 
our line with a part of his force w^hile he moved the rest to 
one flank or the other. During this whole campaign Sher- 
man never dislodged us from a single position by assault 
and never executed a flank movement that Johnston 
failed to meet. These maneu^ ers required a continual 
change of front, now facing North, then ^Vest. producing, 
as it were, an enlarged diagram of an old-fashioned 
"worm" fence. 

Major Jabe Bingham in charge of the "miners and 
sappers" corps, seconded by Captain Billy Shepard, suc- 
ceeded in fortifying every available point of defense and 
providing ditches and rifle pits, with head logs, over near- 
ly all the ground. As a consequence we were generally 
pretty well protected as the Yankees had to shoot througli 
a two-inch crack to hit us. Now and then a shot from one 
of Hotchkiss' field pieces would strike the small end of 
one of our head logs and do considerable damage. But 
this did not often occur as the boys all got to be very "art- 
ful dodgers" and would duck dowm when they saw the 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



205 



smoke of the gun. If the shell hit the log, they were 
safe, and if it missed there was no harm done, and but 
little time lost. 

There was a Federal (general who commanded in our 
immediate front and, although I have forgotten his name 
— if ever I knew — I can say that he was a brave man and 
commanded a brave set of men. He rode a large white 
horse and was a conspicuous mark for our sharpshooters. 
Our artillerists, too, tried their guns on him, but noth- 
ing seemed to disturb him. Every morning, after his lines 
were formed for the advance, he would ride down the 
front from one end to the other, through a shower of 
shells and minnies, as coolly as though on dress parade 
and no danger near. But brave men respect bravery in 
others, and so it was in this instance. After the first few^ 
days of this experience it was decided that no more shots 
were to be fired at '"'Old Whitey" — as we named the horse 
■ — and his rider, and from that day on they were as safe 
from harm b}' our brigade — unless by accident — as if at 
home with their best friends. 

War is not all cruel and inhuman among Christian 
people, as is amply attested by the many noble and hu- 
mane deeds performed in our late war by the soldiers of 
both sides for each other. There is no personal quarrel 
now, and never was, between the old Yankee and Con- 
federate soldier. They disagreed on matters of public 
policy and went out like men and settled the question. 
But there has, unfortunately, been some fellow in our 
great country, belonging to the genus jacasibus — reduced 
to plain United States, the man-who-wants-an-office — who 
by a stretch of his fertile imagination, is always ''nosing*' 
up an insult to the Northern soldier. He's a liar, and if he 
will just come out from under the bed and stand between 

14 



2o6 REMINISCENCES 

Die and any old Northern soldier who was on the Dal ton- 
Atlanta campaign, as old as we now are, we will soon 
prove to him that the truth is not in him, and very little 
else. Why, you poor little apology for an American citi- 
zen! You hybrid — neither man nor monkey, boy nor girl, 
male nor female — I'll bet you part your hair in the middle 
and at the same time shock public decency by wearing 
men's clothes. Out with you, and for shame, go hide 
where your mother won't find you ! 

About this time (General Williams detailed a regular 
scout for his cavalry division, whose duty was to hang 
on the outposts of the enemy and obtain all the informa- 
tion possible without being seen themselves. Lieutenant 
Sam Hughes was the officer in charge, and owing to my 
successful trip from Louisville through the enemy's coun- 
try to our lines the year before, it was thought that I was 
a pretty fair "sneak", and I was detailed Sergeant of the 
layout, which was composed of six men from the different 
regiments, chosen for their supposed fitness for this kind 
of service. 

We usually went out by pairs but sometimes all start- 
ed together and were governed by circumstances after we 
found the enemy. As soon as we gained any important 
information a man would be sent back with the news, 
and as matters developed another would be sent back and 
thus keep our Generals posted without kicking up any 
"fuss" aboubt it, and by this means General Johnston 
knew of every movement of the enemy and was always 
ready. 

This kind of business was quite exciting and some- 
times got us into close quarters. On one occasion w^e had 
been watching the movements of a brigade of the enemy's 
cavalry all one afternoon, and from the signs, had come to 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



207 



the conclusiou that it was lost. It seemed to be movinj^ 
first one course and the another without end or aim, and 
we had sent word back to our lines for a force to surprise 
and capture it, as it was too far from the main force to re- 
ceive help from it, and a sudden surprise, we thought, 
would do the work. Lieutenant Hughes took one side 
and I the other of their line of march and waited for our 
forces to report. 

Mght was approaching and the rain began to pour 
down, which, in the thick of the woods, turned day into 
night. The officer in command decided to go into camp 
and wait till morning, believing himself secure against 
attack in such a night. The Yankees had axes and could 
split pine-knots (we didn't have an ax) and soon had fires 
blazing brightly in spite of the rain. Not wishing to go 
back without finding out all I could about them, I left my 
horse in a thicket a short distance away and crept up to 
a tree near the General's tent (they had tents — we didn't) 
and was listening to the conversation between the officers 
when I noticed the shadows moving around me, but was 
too intent on listening to pay attention to them until some 
one stumbled over a log lying near. On looking around 1 
saw a soldier api^roaching with a lighted torch, who, un- 
less diverted from his course, would run against me. Here 
was close quarters, but I did not intend to be captured, 
although I might have to kill the torch-bearer. Drawing 
a pistol and taking refuge as well as I could in the shadow, 
I waited developments. On he came, right at me and was 
within a few feet before he discovered me, when, with 
''phwat the divil are ye doin' here shpyin' on the Gineral?" 
he drew up and "shined" his torch full in my fare. ''To 
the divil wid ye," said I, ''be afther attindin' to yer owu 
business or Mickey O'Brien will tache ye a lesson in man- 



2o8 REMINISCENCES 

ners." Muttering imprecations against the weather and 
things generally, my Irishman proceeded on his way and 
as soon as the light of his torch would allow, I proceeded 
to get away from there. I didn't seem to be much scared 
at the time, but the further away I got the worse scared 
I was, and by the time I reached our lines I was almost 
stampeded. The gum blanket I wore hid my uniform, 
the torch-light blinded the Irishman and then my Irish 
brogue and belligerent attitude finished the job and saved 
me fron detection. Bat it has always appeared strange to 
me that that Irishman took my threats so quietly. 

A few nights after this our squad was sent out to lo- 
cate a suspected flanking party on the right of our line. 
On nearing the point where we expected the enemy Lieu- 
tenant Hughes divided us out and sent every fellow on an 
independent scout of his own. The rain was falling stead- 
ily, the night very dark and it required the very best wood- 
craft for a stranger to keep his bearings. I had — as I 
supposed — covered the territory assigned to me and hav- 
ing failed to discover anything was making my way back 
to the rendezvous. On reaching the top of a small hill 
I heard a cavalry command passing along the road in the 
valley below. Supposing it to be our own command on its 
way to some other part of the line, I galloped down to 
"fall in." My good luck was with me on this ocacsion. 
As I neared the moving column my horse grew restless 
and as he had been my companion in several close places, 
I decided to investigate and halted near the roadside, 
knowing that he would recognize our friends if I failed to 
do so. I was soon informed of their uniforms, dark as it 
was, as some soldier passing just in front of me, in order 
to keep awake, I suppose, struck up in a not-very-melodi- 
ous voice: ''We'll hang Jeff Davis on a sour abble dree." 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 209 

^'Hiisli," yelled a soldier in his rear, "you Biicktail 

Dutchman, you can't see your notes well enough to sing." 
This sally produced quite a stock of merriment up and 
down the column of which I took advantage, fell in and 
marched with them till I reached a cross road that I knew. 
Without the formality of an adieu to my late compan- 
ions, I — under cover of the friendly darkness — hastened 
to travel and got into camp the next morning without any 
information. You see 1 was lost, and badly lost, and it 
was simply an accident that I was ever found. 




CHAPTER 14. 

BUT it wasn't all fortifications and "head logs" for us. 
Sometimes we struck a level, open country and had 
to "take our medicine" all the same. When we reached 
Cartersville we found that the supply of ditches and rifle 
pits had run out, and w^e had to make the best of fences 
and trees; in fact anything to hide behind. Now don't 
charge us with cowardice because we took advantage of 
any cover we could get; for the Yankees had learned to 
shoot and they shot hard. When one of their bullets hit 
a fellow it hurt and sometimes killed. Now and then 
something amusing would occur, but most generally 
these skirmishes took a serious turn. In order to prop- 
erly inform my readers of our experience about Carters- 
ville, it will be necessary to record several personal inci- 
dents which occurred there and thereabout. 

Our division was formed on the hill north of town 
and was the right wing of the army. It was expected 
that Sherman would attempt to force this position and 
capture the bridge across the Etowah, some two miles 
south. We were formed on the crest of the hill and, as 
the land was cleared for a long distance to our left, we 
had a good view of the ground. Instead of attacking us 
in front, we discovered that Sherman was sending a heavy 
force around to our left with the evident intention of get- 
ting in our rear and capturing the bridge. General Wil- 
liams saw the move and ordered us to march "bv the left 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 2 1 1 

flank'' and take position in front of the enemy, below the 
bridge. We executed the movement in good order, V)nt 
while in column the Yankee shari)-shooters took posses- 
sion of the ground we had just left and poured cold lead 
into our ranks in a way which, to say the least, was un- 
comfortable. Our company was at the head of the bri- 
gade and ('a]>tain John Howell and the writer led the com- 
pany. Captain Howell was a great smoker and, rain or 
shine, usually had his short stem ''briar root" in his 
mouth. This occasion was no exception and caused the 
Captain to have a lay off duty for a few days. We were 
discussing the ])robable issues of our move and I saw the 
Captain was full of some important information which 
he was anxious to impart and in order to have a clear 
field for his operation he reached up his hand to remove 
his pipe from his mouth. 

A bullet from the gun of a sharp-shooter passed 
through his wrist just as he took hold of his pipe and — 
well, the pipe has not been found yet. A minnie ball 
passed through his wrist just as he was removing the pipe 
and caused him to let go of it without being told, like the 
fellow who went into the blacksmith shop and picked up 
the horse shoe. Fortunately the ball passed between the 
two bones, the Captain saved his hand and was not off 
duty very long. I had argued with the Captain on the 
evil effects of smoking without any good result. I 
thought that this was a clincher and would break him of 
his habit, but it didn't. He got another pipe and contin- 
ued to smoke. The last time I saw him — at the reunion 
at Uniontown — he was pumping away at an old short 
stem ''briar root,-' and, I have no doiubt, he will keep up 
the habit until Old (jabriel sounds his last tattoo. Well, 
if he derives any comfort from it no one should object, for 



212 REMINISCENCES 

he contributed his full mite to the cause of American 
manhood. He was true and faithful at all times and was 
always where duty called. I record with great sorrow 
that Captain Howell has been in bad health for more than 
a year and that his age is against him. I know that I re- 
flect the feeling and sentiment of the members of the old 
brigade when I offer my prayer to the great Ruler of the 
destinies of poor weak humanity to restore him to health 
and prosperity. Men like he are growing scarce, and 
Avhile this is true "'pity 'tis 'tis true." 

Arriving in front of Sherman's fiank movement, we 
found that instead of ditches and rifle pits we only had a 
few trees and stumps to hide behind. Of course we took 
advantage of all the protection they afl'orded, which in 
some cases called for two to a tree. Our skirmish line 
was sharp-shooting with the enemy's pickets and the bul- 
lets cut dangerously close and made the bark fly. One 
of the 9th Kentucky was behind a tree about twenty feet 
to my left and he became greatly excited over a shooting 
match with a Yankee. In withdrawing his ram rod from 
his gun he jerked it out so suddenly as to lose hold of it 
and it fell to the ground. He did not stop then, how- 
ever, to pick it up, but capped his gun and tired at his an- 
tagonist. The Yankee was watching and escaped harm, 
but reserved his tire for a better chance. It came when 
our man stooped to pick up his ram rod and exposed suf- 
ficient of his anatomy for the Yankee to get in a shot and 
he made it tell. At the crack of the Yankee's gun our 
man, with a whoop, jumped nearly over to my tree, at the 
same time giving the sign of the Masonic degree called 
"Confidence." I can't tell you exactly where the ball hit 
him, but it made four holes in his hide as it passed 
through and kept him from sitting down comfortably for 




Gen w. b. Bate. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 21 3 

two or three weeks. It was funny to me, and may be to 
you, but don't tliink the 9tli Kentucky man saw^ any fun 
in it. 

There was a young man — a stranger — came to our 
regiment, from nobody knew where and he would not tell ; 
the only name he would give was ''Texas/' We looked on 
him as a Yankee spy, although he w as alw ays on the front 
line and seemed to be intent on killing Yankees. We 
w^atched him closely with the determination to kill him 
at the first sign of treachery. The enemy massed his 
forces and, seeing it, we prepared to retreat. We fell 
back slowly, taking advantage of the trees and contested 
the ground as best we could, aiming to hold the enemy in 
check and at the same time keep out of his clutches. 
"Texas" fought furiously and kept in our rear as we fell 
back. We kept our eye on him, believing his bravery was 
a sham and that he was intending to make a dash and es- 
cape to his friends, in which case we intended to shoot 
him. While a few of us were trying to decide whether 
to shoot him or not, his gun dropped from his hand and 
he fell forward to the ground. Just then the Yankees 
charged us and we had to leave him, but reinforcement 
coming up we returned the compliment, drove the Yan- 
kees from the field and recovered "Texas' " body. A min- 
nie ball had hit him in the centre of the forehead. He 
never knew what struck him. A peculiarity was notice- 
able; although the ball had passed through his brain, no 
sign of blood appeared and his skin was almost as blue as 
indigo. Some scientist can perhaps give the reason, but 
we could not account for it. We buried him where he 
fell, at the foot of a pine tree, on which we "blazed" a 
place big enough to write with charcoal : 



REMINISCENCES 



I ' '''Texas, * j 

I Killed May 19tli, 1864." \ 



And there his bones probably lie today, while anxious 
friends — perhaps his mother — are hoping that he may yet 
return. There were many sad cases of this kind where 
all trace of some soldier has been lost. We ,often read 
today of men returning to their loved ones who had been 
mourned for as dead for years and of the rejoicing these 
returns occasion, and I feel sad over the death of "Texas" 
as much because I cannot inform his loved ones as for his 
untimely taking off. Like all the rest of us, he was 
"mother's boy" and it would do her heart good even now 
to know that he fell at his post. It would be greater sat- 
isfaction to her than the uncertain hope of yet seeing him 
alive coupled with the thought that he has perhaps for- 
gotten her and cast her off. And this is one of the sad- 
dest features of war. It is not that men cruelly butcher 
each other that makes war horrible, but that it wrings the 
hearts of the mothers and wives of a country, who always 
suffer more than the soldiers in the field. 

But you are getting impatient for another fight. Well. 
I'll give it to you pretty soon. You see the Yankees 
were trying to get the bridge across the Etowah and we 
were trying to keep them from it. After our reinforce- 
ments arrived the Yankees didn't seem to want it quite 
so much and this gave us a little rest. But Sherman — 
like an old fox — hunted for another hole which forced us 
to cross the river; that is to say get on the other side, and 
we did so. Our first line after crossing was formed in 
the midst of the Altoona gold "diggins." Now don't 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 21 5 

tbink for a moment that we were a set of mercenaries, but 
when the boys saw nujj^gets lying- around they forgot the 
enemy and began to search for the ^'root of all evil/' and 
our officers — just one or two of them only were down 
scratching gravel with the men — had hard work to get us 
back to our business. You see it took three dollars of 
Confederate money to buy what we could get for one gold 
dollar and besides we had to fight hard for one while we 
only had to pick up the other off the ground. But we 
finally got back in line and ready for business. We knew 
the Yankees never left anything of value that they could 
carry off and expected that when they reached the ground 
we had just left they would abandon pursuit and every 
mother's son of them go to scratching for gold when we 
could easily capture them and what gold they had secur- 
ed. In this we were disappointed, for instead of going 
into the gold mining business, they rushed on us and we 
had a hard fight to stop them. Investigation proved that 
we had picked up all the surface gold and they were not 
aware of the presence of the precious metal. It proved 
that our own avarice had deprived us of the advantage 
we might have gained by taking advantage of the charac- 
ter of our foe. In other words we "killed the goose'' for 
the golden egg and had to fight like thunder to keep it. 

We went out of the gold mining business, not that 
we w^anted to, but you see, Sherman sent a force around 
to our left and threatened our ''grub pile" and we aban- 
doned our position in order to save our rations. This 
item of rations was becoming a very serious matter Avith 
us, for we didn't often get anything to eat unles we cap- 
tured it from the enemy and we generally had to fight for 
it then. You good people who sit down to your tables 
loaded with all the good things the good Lord in His 



2i6 REMINISCENCES 

bounty has provided may indeed »be tliankful and say 
^^Gracious Father, we thank Thee that we are blessed 
with plenty and our lot not so hard as that of the Confed- 
erate soldier." 

We are now Jr^outh of the Etowah river and in about 
as rough a country as could well be imagined. The spurs 
of Altoona mountain extend in a southwesterly direction 
and are composed of rough, steep hills with deep, sharp 
hollows betw^een, the whole surface covered with heavy 
timber and a dense undergrowth. When we got on this 
ground we thought w^e had a picnic and quoted the bible 
phrase which declares that "a company is equal to ten 
thousand and one is as good as a host." Now, don't hunt 
too long for the above quotation, for you may fail to find 
it and it won't do any great harm if you don't; anyhow, 
we thought we had a "fat" thing and prepared to enjoy 
it, but had not finished our preparations when we were 
ordered to fall back to Akworth, some eight or ten miles 
further south. To call Akworth a town was a burlesque, 
but as it contained the only evidence of human habitation 
for miles around we were glad to see it and pitched onr 
tent near by. The houses in Akworth were long, one- 
story frame structures with a platform in front and ap- 
peared to have been used as business houses before the 
beginning of the war. All the men of the country had 
gone to the front and their wives and children moved into 
town and took possession of the vacant store houses — 
there are lots of women and children in Georgia — in or- 
der to get the care of the Confederate government and 
for their better protection. There was an old fellow who 
lived just out of tow^n, conducted a small distillery and 
made the usual quality of pine top whisky. Now, we had 
a few men in our command who could detect ''pine top" 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 21 7 

miles away and one of the best tiaijers was Bob O'Nan 
of Co. E. — and besides his love of ''licker/- he was a brave 
soldier and the best pistol shot in the command. Bob 
rode a big bay mule and he and Bob appeared to under- 
stand each other peifectly and enjoyed a kind of Damon 
and Pythias existence. The mule would do whatever 
Bob wanted him to do and Bob gave the mule the best of 
everything to be had, and thus a fellow-feeling sprang up 
between them that sometimes bordered on the sentimen- 
tal. 

In addition to its duties as scout, the squad com- 
manded by Lieutenant Hughes was also the "provost 
guard'- of the command. We had the right to go where 
and when we pleased, make arrests for any infringement 
or violation of orders, round up "stragglers" and do police 
duty generally. 

After we fell back to Akworth the enemy quit press- 
ing us and made his demonstrations further to the left to- 
ward Dallas. This gave us a little rest and some of the 
boys improved the opportunity by leaving camp to hunt 
a "square meal'* or anything else that might be found to 
relieve the monotony or minister to their pleasure. As 
we were liable to be called on to move at any moment 
this was embarrassing to our commander and he ordered 
Lieutenant Hughes to hunt up the absentees and bring 
them into camp. Dividing his force so as to cover the 
whole territory the Lieutenant proceeded to carry out the 
order. I was assigned to Akworth and, as I afterwards 
discovered, was the only member of the "scout to catch 
his man, and I was like the man in the hollow stump hold- 
ing to the bear's tail and afraid to let go. I thought for 
awhile that I had "bit off more than I could chew." On 
entering the one street in the town I saw a horseman 



2i8 REMINISCENCES 

• 
ahead of me riding in a canter, but this did not attract my 
attention to any great extent. All at once the horseman 
stopped in front of one of the houses and I saw from his 
maneuvers that ''something was up." Before I could de- 
cide what it was. he charged at, and upon, the platform 
and disappeared in the front door. At the same time I 
heard screams and women and children poured out of the 
back door in swarms. Soon horse and rider emerged from 
the back door and, without paying any attention to the 
late occupants of the house, headed for the next one, go- 
ing this time by the back entrance, driving the frightened 
occupants out the front way and following them out as 
in the first instance. Just now a courier galloped by go- 
ing to headquarters, paid no attention to the disturbance, 
but went on down the street. It is needless for me to say 
that the umn who was riding through the houses and 
scaring the women and children was Bob O'Nan. Bob 
saw the courier and, being filled with '^pine top," could 
easily imagine that the courier Avas a Yankee soldier and 
ordered him to halt. Intent on the delivery of his mes- 
sage the soldier paid no attention to the command, when 
Bob drew his "navy" and began to "crack down" on him. 
Fortunately Bob was so "full" that his aim was uncertain 
and as he was about to fire his third shot I was near 
enough to grab his pistol and jerk it from him, no doubt 
saving the life of the courier and Bob from trouble. I 
still carry the scar made by the hammer of Bob's pistol 
when I caught it. Bob submitted and I started to take 
him into camp, feeling a little big over my capture of the 
worst man in the regiment. Alas! for us that our 
schemes so ''aft gang aglee!" I had not counted on Bob's 
mule. Just outside of town Bob spoke to his mule and 
the mule stopped still in the road, Bob dismounted and 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 219 

lay down in the shade of a tree. Detenniued not to be 
beaten, I endeavored to lead the mule into camp, intend- 
ing to report Uob's delinquency and have proof of the 
fact. But in this I was mistaken for the mule refused to 
budge a foot, and, although I pulled and — I am sorry to 
say — "cussed" a little, the mule stood firmly by his friend. 
As a consequence I had to report the atfair and haul Bob 
in an ambulance, but the mule never left him. The last 
time I saw Bob was in 1878 in Frankfort and he was the 
same true man he proved to be in the war. He fought 
valiantly for his cause and accepted tlie verdict like a 
brave man. But I would like to know what become of his 
old ''bay mule." 

W hile we were congratulating ourselves on the easy 
Time we were enjoying and, like all other people, hoping 
for better times, our bugler stepped out and in his — bugle 

— language said: "T'a-t'a-t'a , t'a-t'a t'a — , ta-a-a, ta- 

a-a, ta." Kecognizing the ''grub" call, you may depend it 
was not long before every man was ready. We knew 
That there was a Yankee supply train somewhere near 
and that we could capture it if we could get to it quickly. 
In less than an hour we were on our way. Moving by the 
right we avoided the enemy's picket and about three 
o'clock in the afternoon struck Sherman's wagon train 
at a iMiint which was unguarded, but w^ere sadly disap- 
pointed on finding that, instead of rations, it was loaded 
with Ordnance supplies. But, as we had it, we had to 
make the best of it, so set fire to the whole thing, after 
taking the mules away. The Federal cavalry guarding 
the train were in the advance some three miles and we 
had time to execute our movement and get back to cover 
before tliey could attack us. But we had no time to lose 
and had a race with them for a protecting gap in the 



220 REMINISCENCES 

• 
mountain, and, liad it not been for a violent tliunder 
storm which covered our retreat, we might have had a 
hard fight and perhaps, been captured: Just as we 
reached the protecting gap, or cove, as they are called 
"down south," night closed down and with it came one of 
the hardest rains that we had ever seen fall. It was so 
dark that it was impossible for us to move and there we 
stood — or sat, rather — all the long, miserable night with 
the rain pouring down and the deep gully along side the 
road roaring like a young Niagara, while the lightning 
blazed and the thunder rolled, adding to the weirdness of 
the situation. Now and then a man or horse would get 
to dreaming and do some funn}' things. I remember one 
occurrence which might be called funny or not, according 
to' how one looks at it. Ben Moore, of the 2d Battalion, 
rode a nice bay mare and on this night was just ahead of 
me in the column. We could see when the lightning 
flashed and hear when the thunder ceased roaring. All 
at once I heard a commotion ahead of me, and when the 
lightning flashed I saw a man and horse some thirty feet 
up the side of the mountain, apparently hanging on like 
a squirrel. This was followed by the fall of some heavy 
body in the front and the clatter of hoofs down the road 
which elicited shouts and snorts from men and horses 
along the route. All this was caused by Ben and his mare 
both going to sleep and dreaming. 

The mare started to climb the hill, which was nearly 
as steep as a wall Avhen she got to where the hill leant 
backward she turned a back summersault and fell in the 
road, afterward running down it for a hundred yards be- 
fore she stopped. 

Fortunately the girth of Ben's saddle broke as his 
mare started to fall, which let him loose and perhaps 





Gen. Pat Cleburne. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 221 

saved his life. Ben rolled down into the road unhuit, but 
never could find his saddle. 

\\'hen day at last broke it found us wet, weary and 
hungry. 

The fact is, we struck the Yankee wagon train in the 
wrong place and, instead of something to eat, only found 
ainniunition. 

l*>ut we had a grand display of pyrotechnics if we did 
fail to get any grub, and caused Sherman to hold up until 
he secured another supply before venturing the battle of 
Dallas — "New Hope Church." — But we were badly disap- 
pointed and somewhat mad, so the next day we ran upon 
a small force that 1 think was lost, and we took them in, 
together with two wagons loaded with ''hard tack and 
sow belly," which they had along for their own use. This 
made us happy and we soon forgot our late disappoint- 
ment. 

We found our line of battle withdrawn further south 
and took our position on the extreme right. 

The rain continued to fall, the Yankees continued 
to press us and we continued to occupy the ditches and 
rifle pits, which were generally full of muddy water. 

Our position was on the spurs of Pine Mountain, and 
a portion of our lines extended across the railroad. Now, 
don't take it for granted that we had a regular line of bat- 
tle with a large force, for we didn't. 

We were strung out twenty, thirty, and, in some 
cases, a hundred yards apart and "closed up'' from either 
side as occasion and necessity required. 

When a charge was made we always managed to 
have enough force on hand to repulse it. This was no 
easy service, by any means. It kept us on the 'qui vive' 
and moving from point to point, but we held our position 

15 



222 REMINISCENCES 

until Sherman had massed his forces at New Hope church 
and threatened our rear, when we were withdrawn to Big 
Shanty, six miles north of Marietta. 

Some idea can be formed of the strength of our line 
when a force of three thousand cavalry had to defend a 
line six miles long. Such was the duty of our division, 
and, you may depend, we had but little time to play. We 
were water soaked, our rations were ''ditto" and scarce, 
but we managed to keep our powder dry, and the Yankees 
never came after a light without being accommodated. 

While on this line several things of interest occurred, 
some of which have been recorded in previous histories, 
while others have not. 

One of the saddest was the death of General Polk, 
on June 13th. The General was killed by a Federal shell, 
which struck him in the breast and mercifully ended his 
life without pain or suffering. 

He was beloved throughout the army and his death 
cast a deep gloom over all. The General was truly a 
Christian soldier, having resigned his bishopric in the 
Episcopal church to battle for his country and its cause. 

I had a special regard for him because his wife had 
visited Gardiner and me while in prison at Columbia, 
Tenn., and ministered to our material wants. I am glad 
to say that I had the opportunity of informing the Gen- 
eral of the kindness of his wife and of listening to the fin- 
est eulogium "to woman" that I ever heard or read. I 
wish I could reproduce it here. Having lost my dairy in 
which I had it recorded, I will not attempt it. 

Suspecting a flank movement of the enemy, General 
Williams ordered me to go to a certain point some three 
miles distant, watch for this move and report it, if made. 

Our boys were fighting the Yankees in front of them 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 223 

and holding them in check, but should an enemy gain 
their rear they would be between two fires and forced to 
retreat, or, perhaps, surrender. 

On nearing the point to which I had been ordered, I 
came to a long, narrow field some twenty rods wide. 

The south side was bordered by an open woods and 
the north by a thick underbrush. Halting at the edge of 
the field I listened for signs of the enemy on the other 
side. I could hear the heav}- firing away off on the left 
as the Yankees were charging our lines, but could detect 
no sign of danger in my front. I decided to cross the field 
and go to the point to which 1 was ordered. Leaping my 
horse over the fence and putting him to his best speed in 
order to gain the other side as soon as possible, I was be- 
ginning to feel secure as I neared the fence. When with- 
in thirty yards of cover my horse whirled to the right with 
a lunge that nearly unseated me, and at the same instant 
a gun blazed out from the thicket I was approaching. 
Owing to the quick sight and sagacity of my horse the 
Yankee's bullet went through the shawl rolled and fas- 
tened behind my saddle instead of through my "bread bas- 
ket," as intended. Of all the close calls I had during the 
war, this was the only time I was ever in danger of being 
murdered. As close as I was, he had only to demand my 
surrender, and realizing that he had the "drop" on me, I 
would have obeyed orders. But he intended to kill me, 
and but for the prompt action of my horse would have 
succeeded. 

I am glad to say that such occurrences were rare. 
The real soldiers on both sides were brave men and never 
shed blood or took a man's life ruthlessly. This man was 
a deliberate and malicious murderer at heart, and, as such 



224 REMINISCENCES 

men always are, a coward to boot. 'But this was not all 
the cause of my resentment against this Yankee. 

This shawl was a present to me from Julius \A'inter, 
of Louisville, Kt., in the spring of 186:^ while I was there 
^'masquerading," and it was a good one. It would turn 
rain, snow or any other kind of weather, keep out cold, re- 
tain heat, and was a kind of "all round, general purpose" 
shawl. 

Billy Hughes and 1 shared the same bed — that is, we 
slept together. Billy had a blanket and I owned the 
shawl. Whenever we could expect to get a little rest, we 
would bend down a bash and stretch my shawl over it for 
a tent and with Billy's blanket for a cover, ''spooning" al- 
ternately, we slept the sleep of innocence. 

When the ground was too hard for him, he would 
give the order "right face," and, asleep or awake, it was 
obeyed. Discipline, you know, makes man a machine, 
and we were disciplined. 

The holes that the Yankee's bullet cut through the 
shawl seemed to concentrate the surface water that fell 
and lead it into the ear of one or the other of us .Of course 
I was very patient, but not so with Billy. 

When a cold stream hit him in the ear or back of the 
neck and woke him from a sweet and refreshing sleep his 

standing remark was, " that Yankee." Being of a 

pious turn, I did not say "amen," but I thought it all the 
same. 

One of the many unaccountable occurrences of the 
war took place here. 

I think it was on the night of the llJth of June. 

The heavy rains of the past two days had so swollen 
a swampy creek, as I remember, called Noce's creek, 
which ran between us and the enemy and precluded the 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 225 

possibility of they getting to ns or we to them, we were 
taking things easy. However, we did not rehix our vigi- 
hmce and kept our lines formed and ready in case of an 
attempted Surprise. .Vlong about midnight, when every- 
thing was quiet, the rain pouring steadily down, and we 
enjoying a quiet "nod," we were aroused by a few scatter- 
ing musket shots to our left, followed immediately by vol- 
ley after volley, interspersed with artillery firing, giving 
it the appearance of a regular battle. We. of course, ex- 
pected that the Yankees were attempting to sneak up on 
us and were looking for them in our front, but they failed 
to come and the firing on our left ceased as suddenly as it 
had begun. 

We never knew the cause of this, but decided that 
the men who did the shooting — Hardee's corps — had be- 
come so accustomed to fighting that they kept up the 
practice in their dreams. Now, this may look a little im- 
probable and sound a little "fishy," but "it ain't no lie." 
Ask some old Federal soldier who was on the left of 
Sherman's line and he will tell you that he had to turn 
out and stand in line while an investigation was being 
made, and, owing to the weather, got pretty wet. 

But we got it next diiy, and it was no false alarm. 
Hardee's and Wheeler's corps were attacked with a heavy 
force, while the bulk of Sherman's army was moved far- 
ther to the left toward Dallas. 

All day long the Yankees charged us and all day long 
the rain poured, but we held our position till night closed 
down and ended the strife. The men of both sides slept 
on their arms, and with the break of day the combat was 
renewed with more or less vigor until the 24th, when a 
general move was made by the enemy along our line, and 
for six hours we had all we could do to hold our position. 



226 REMINISCENCES 

Pardon me while I stop to record a sad incident 
which occurred and in which two good men of our regi- 
ment lost their lives to no purpose. 

After the enemy made his last charge and everything 
became quiet, I was sent, with a detail of one man from 
each company, to our wagon camp in the rear to procure 
rations for the men in line, who needed them badly. 

The man from Co. C was named Adam Razor. On 
reaching the wagons Razor became involved in a quarrel 
with "Spot" Clarkson, a member of Co. F. 

They had had previous trouble and took this occasion 
to renew it. Both men were "dead game" and drew their 
pistols with the intention of "shooting" it out, but we in- 
terfered and prevented an encounter. They both turned 
to walk away when Clarkson, whose right thumb had 
been shot off, attempted to let the hammer of his pistol 
down. Owing to his defective thumb, it slipped from his 
control and his pistol was discharged. Realizing that 
Razor would think he was attempting to assassinate him, 
Clarkson wheeled around and found his conclusions cor- 
rect, and Razor ready for action. 

Before we could interfere, both men fired simulta- 
neously, and both fell to the ground. 

Investigation proved that both shots took effect. Ra- 
zor was shot in the "pit" of the stomach and Clarkson in 
the forehead. Our surgeons were soon on hand and an 
examination indicated that Razor was most seriously 
wounded. 

He was unable to rise, while Clarkson soon recov- 
ered, took his seat on a log, and insisted on the surgeons 
attending to Razor, at the same time expressing deep sor- 
row for his hasty act and explaining how it occurred. We 
were working with Razor, trying to relieve him, when a 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 227 

negro boy, who took care of Colonel Breckenridge's 
horses, came up and touched me on the shoulder, with 
"boss, dat Oder man is daid." Turning to see what he 
meant, I found "Spot'' Clarksou lying behind the log and 
an examination proved that he was dead. Eazor's ball 
had depressed his skull, compression of the brain cut off 
cerebral circulation and killed him. 

Razor lived five days and died. Thus we lost two 
good men without receiving any material benefit and re- 
duced our fighting force, to that extent adding to the 
force of the enemy. 

Failing to dislodge us and turn our right flank, 
Sherman concentrated all his force on the left, where he 
was met by the bulk of our army and a severe battle was 
fought on the 27th of June, in which the Confederates 
were victorious, but at such a cost as to neutralize the vic- 
tory and leave them in a crippled condition, 

The fact is, we had every man in line and were un- 
able to recruit our forces from any source, while the Fed- 
eral government could draw on the Northern States for 
supplies and men, and even scour Europe for recruits. 

About this time we began to realize that we were in 
hard lines and laboring under difficulties. Yet every man 
determined to do his duty and "die game." Whether in 
the charge or on the retreat, tlie "old yell" always re- 
sounded, and, whether it struck terror to the hearts of our 
enemies or not, it always served to cheer us. 

Failing to dislodge Johnston at New Hope Church 
Sherman took advantage of his superior force to send an- 
other heavy detachment further to our right, but General 
Johnston hoped to force Sherman to meet him at Kene- 
saw Mountain and fight it out. 

Sherman's last flank movement did not seem to "pan 



228 REMINISCENCES . 

out" to his satisfaction, and he deci(fed to attaclv John- 
ston on his own oroimd. For this purpose he concentrat- 
ed his army, and bv the night of the 3d of July was in 
front of Kenesaw Mountain. And right here was enacted 
one of the grandest scenes that I ever beheld. The north- 
ern face of Kenesaw was honeycombed with rifie-pits and 
bristled with cannon. On a ridge, about tw^o thousand 
yards in fiont, the enemy had planted all his field artil- 
lery. 

The night was dark, and a drizzling rain was falling. 
The Yankees opened the "ball'' by sending a shell over our 
way, which was promptly rei)lied to by our batteries, and 
soon the engagement became general. 

As it happened, the detail from Co. (J, 1st Kentucky, 
was put on the front line. As I remember now, Si Bing- 
ham, (leorge Quarles, Alex Barrett and Dick Howell were 
the "detail," with your "humble servant.'' Fortunately, 
we were placed on the lowel' line. Our Yankee friends 
shot high, and their shells passed over us. We soon 
found that there was no danger of a direct attack, and as 
the shells were passing at a safe distance, we "turned in," 
that is to say, we w^ent to sleep. 

Now and then a shell would fall short, burst over our 
line and wake us up; but, as we w^ere in as much danger 
awake as asleep, it made but little difference and we went 
to sleep again as soon as we could. 

The night was dark and gloomy, but was kept lit up 
by the artillery from both sides as if by electricity. 

The route of the shells could be traced by the sparks 
from the fuses, and the explosions were almost contin- 
uous. 

This was the grandest display of fireworks I had ever 
witnessed, and I doubt if it has ever been excelled. 



--rT-^m-. 




Major Thomas J. Johnson. 

Waslioru at Eddyville, Ky., October 13th, 1842. Wheu war was declared he 
was iu charge of the seven stage Hues eattriug Hopkinsville, Ky.. which position 
he resigned to enlist in the Oak Grove Rangers, which was innstered into the 
Tennessee State service in June, 1S61, and in October into the Confederate service 
at Bowling Green, Ky. as Company A of the First Kentucky Cavalry. He fol- 
lowed the fortunes of the regiment until the expiration of his term of enlistment 
in 1862, wheu he re enlisted in Woodward's Second Kentucky Cavalry, which 
served under General Forest until alter the battle of Chickaniauga, when the 
regiment was attached to General Williams' Brigade, with which it served until 
the end. In September, 1864, Major Johnson, w ith others, went into Kentucky on 
recruiting service, was captured and sent to Camp Chase, where he remained 
until the close of the war. He returned to hriu(;eton, Ky., thence by boat to 
Leavenworth. Kansas, thence over land, by ox team, to Montana Territory— four 
months on the \vay. fighting Indians and enduring many other hardships. He 
remained in Montana five years; returned to Ballard Comity, Ky., and farmed for 
two ypars : then back to Princeton and clerked in a store for four years, when he 
and "six others, went overland to Texas, returning to Princeton in 1879, and has 
since been in the livery and grocery business. In 18.S8 he organized a military 
company of Princeton's best young men and drilled them to a high state of pro- 
ficiency. .\fter commanding the Company three years he was promoted to Major 
of the Second Battalion, Third Regiment Kentucky State Guards, which commis- 
sion he now holds. 

At the age of thirty-seven he married Miss Ida King, one of Princeton's 
noblest daughters, which union has been b'essed with five children (King Jeft" 
and Ray, boys, and Hazel and Dale, girls). He attends all the reunions of the 
Blue and the Gray, Grand Army Encampments and Confederate Camps, and is 
never so happy as when contributing to the pleasure and comfort of the old soldier. 
He is an enterprising citizen and takes part in all movements for the advance- 
ment of his communitv and State. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 229 

Oil the next iiioriiiiij» tbcy cluiiged our lines at break 
of (lay and got gloriously left. 

This was the 4th of July, and the Yankees generally 
wanted to do something smart on the Jrth, but they failed 
to drive us from Kenesaw by assault, but Sherman sent 
a heavy force around on our left flank and we had to 
''scratch gravel" again and fall back to General Shoup's 
fortifications on the Chattahoochie. 

Immediately after the clock struck ''one" on the 5th 
our command took up its line of march for the "reai" 
again; at least this is my information. I was not with it 
then, as, on the morning of the 4th, I met with an accident 
which placed me 'hors du combat' for the next four 
months and, whether agreeable or not, consigned me to 
the hospital. 

It was not a Yankee shell, nor a minnie ball, but my 

own *• smartness," that got me. Like a good many 

young men of today, I thought I was the best man in the 
army — physically — and I believe I had told some of my 
comrades, while discussing David and Goliath, that I 
thought David was very "smal^potatoes," and had I been 
in his place 1 would have gone up to Goliath, spit in his 
face, and, had he resented, I would have kicked him out 
of the country. I say I may ha\e said it — and — 1 may 
have tried it and got "done up," like i did when I tackled 
the sack of corn on the side of Kenesaw. 

Rations for both man and beast were a little short 
with us, and we were never very particular to be strictly 
— that is to say — "extra'' honest when we had a chance to 
get something to eat or feed our horses. I was sent with 
a detail to the wagons to get corn for the horses of the 
regiment. 

Captain Jones, our quartermaster, gave me an order 



230 REMINISCENCES 

for eight bags of corn, one for eacfi company, and, owing 
to circumstances, we were told to "wait on" ourselves. 

I noticed a big bag, holding at least three bushels, 
and gathered on to it first for my company. 

After getting out our allotment, I helped the men to 
shoulder their sacks and sent them on their way. 

When it came to our man, he "kicked" on the big 
sack. Wishing to secure the corn, and not wishing to at- 
tract the attention of Captain Jones to the sharp practice 
that I thought 1 was playing, I "cussed'- the fellow a little, 
quietly, and told him to throw it on my shoulder, which 
he gladly agreed to. 

Now, it was raining, and the hillside was very slip- 
pery. When w^e swung the bag on my shoulder my right 
foot slipped, but my left was between tw^o rocks and 
couldn't turn. The whole weight being on my left leg, 
and, of course, holding all the muscles and joints rigid, 
something had to give way, and in this case it was my hip 
joint, that was twisted around in the socket. I managed 
to carry the corn lo the company, some fifty yards, but fell 
exhausted, and, oh I how I suffered. 

The boys put me on a stretcher and carried me to 
Marietta, where, after an examination by the surgeon, I 
was ordered to the hospital. 

The boys carried me over to the train of box cars in 
which the wounded were being loaded, and endeavored 
to get me in, but they were already so crowded that this 
was impossible. An Irish brakeman, seeing our predica- 
ment, suggested a way out, and, reaching down, caught 
hold of my hands and hauled me on top, rolled me up in 
my shawl and made me as comfortable as possible. 

God bless the Irish! They have more of the milk of 
human kindness to the square inch than any other people 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 23 1 

in the world, aud will do more with the means at their 
disposal to alleviate suffering than any other people on 
earth. 

It is twentj^-two miles from Marietta to Atlanta, and 
it took our train sixteen hours to run it. 

All night long we were running back and forth, side- 
tracking and switching, to let by the trains loaded with 
reinforcements and supplies. 

All night long the rain came down in a steady pour, 
and all this time I lay on top of the car with the running 
plank for my pillow, suffering untold agony. 

My Irishman -never passed me without a word of 
comfort, and but for his interest in me I think I would 
have thrown myself from/ the train while in motion and 
ended my misery. He told me his name was Dennis 
O'Donnell, and, if still living, I hope he has plenty and is 
happy and comfortable; if dead, he is surely in heaven, 
reaping the rew^ard of his kind deeds. 

But we got to Atlanta at last, and O'Donell helped 
me down from the top of the car and helped carry me 
across the street to the hospital. As Atlanta could not 
care for all the wounded, they were distributed among 
the towns farther south. I was sent to Newnan, Ga. I 
was fortunate in this, as Dr. J. N. Hughes, father of my 
chum, Billy Hughes, was in charge at Newnan and gave 
me his special attention. 

My case developed into aggravated lumbago, and for 
three weeks I was as helpless as an infant and suffered 
untold agony. But at last, with the aid of scarification, 
cupping, mustard plasters and hot liniments, I got able 
to go on crutches and assist the surgeons and nurses with 
the wounded, who came in thick and fast. 

Everv train from the front was loaded with wounded 



232 



REMINISCENCES 



and as our force of surgeons was limited, every man who 
could dress a wound or assist in any way was called into 
requisition and kept busy. 

I became very much interet^ited in surgical operations 
and quite handy at the business, and I have often won- 
dered why I did not follow the business of "slicing up" 
my fellow-man instead of turning author and writing war 
history. r»ut "there's a Divinity." you know, "that shapes 
our ends." 



(;iIArTEK 15. 

As Sheriiian iieared Atlanta, he pressed our forces 
harder and the fighting was fast and furious. There 
is one thing certain, American soldiers cannot do much 
fighting without somebody getting hurt. 

Thev are not lil^e the Japanese and Chinese. ^Vhy, 
I read the summing iip of their late war, and, although it 
lasted nearly two rears, and from reports received at the 
time, I was led to believe that if somebody did not stop 
them they would soon exterminate each other. 

It turns out that there were six hundred and ninety- 
six Japanese soldiers killed in battle, and it was supposed 
that the Chinese loss was some larger. 

After pressing Johnston back into the works around 
Atlanta, Sherman attempted to cut off his line of commu- 
nications by flank movements, which divided Sherman's 
forces and scattered them over a long line. 

Just now (July 18th) Johnston was relieved of his 
command and superceded by General Hood. Hood was 
a fighter, and thought he saw his opportunity to whip 
Sherman's army in detail, and sent a strong force around 
toward Decatur to attack M( rherson, who was on this 
part of the line. 

He succeeded in surprising McPherson and driving 
him back to Peachtree Creek, where on the 22d day of 
July, was fought one of the sharpest little battles of the 
war, and the losses on both sides were verv heavv. 



234 REMINISCENCES 

The fight was furious and almost hand to hand. Our 
forces were all mixed up with the Yankees, and part of 
the time neither knew where they were. 

The Yankees captured one-half of our regiment, and 
when the others found it out they made a charge and re- 
leased them. 

Three Y^ankees captured William Partridge, of Co. A, 
and, as the bullets were flying thick and they did not 
know their way out, all four laid down behind a log. Par- 
tridge standing his gun against it, but in reach. 

Just then Major Wash McCawley rode up within 
tw^enty steps of them, but, as his back was turned, he did 
not see them. One of the Yankees raised his gun to shoot 
him, when Partridge cried out, ''Don't shoot, he'll surren- 
der," but it ayailed nothing, for the Yankee fired and the 
Major fell dead. Partridge grabbed his own gun and 
shot the Yankee dead, clubbed it and brained the second 
one, getting the load from this one's gun through his 
clothes at the same time, and, by sheer strength, seized 
the third and led him off a prisoner. 

I asked Partridge afterward why he didn't kill the 
third one, too, and his answer was, "I don't know." 

I don't know, either, but haye often wondered why. 
Partridge was as cool as he was braye, and just the man 
any one would expect to resent a wrong to the fullest ex- 
tent. 

Major McCrawley was the idol of the brigade, had 
been with us from 1861, at Bowling Green, sharing all our 
trials, hardships and dangers, and at all times was the 
same kind, considerate friend to the humblest priyate as 
well as the highest officer. 

Next to General Helm, he was the best-loyed officer 
in the command. Modest as a woman, he was as braye 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 235 

as a lion. Thoiigii siuall in slatuie, he was a giant at 
heart. 

8oon train after train began to pour their loads of 
wounded into Newuan, and the hospitals were crowded to 
their utmost, while the hospital force had to w^ork day 
and night. 

The surgeons gave their attention to the worst cases 
and the milder cases were turned over to the nurses, who, 
in turn, classified them and gave first attention to the 
most serious. 

We had no anaesthetic dressing then, and all wounds 
were treated with the cold water treatment, which was 
to thickly bandage the wound and keep continually w^et 
with cold water, till all signs of inflammation disappeared 
and the flesh began to show granulations. Then the wa- 
ter was discontinued, and dry bandages with salves and 
liniments substituted. Sometimes grangrene would de- 
velop, and unless quickly removed was sure death to the 
patient. Our method of removing grangrene was to burn 
it out with nitric acid — aqua fortis. This was very severe 
and trying on the nerves of the nurse as well as the pa- 
tient. 

When pouring the acid on the "proud" flesh you 
would see smoke rise, the flesh sizzle and crisp up, and 
all this time the patient screaming in agony, it took a 
stout heart and steady nerve to apply it. I hope never 
to have to do it again. But there is no danger. 

Surgery and chemistry have made wonderful strides 
since the war, and to be treated for a wound now is a 
l>leasure by comi>arison. 

What a number of valuable lives could have been 
saved if we had known these thinjis then. But we didn't 



236 



REMINISCENCES 



and we did the best we could. It is a wouder, thinking 
ot it now, that thej didn't all die. 

One of our hospitals was a long, open shed in the 
court house yard, contained four rows of cots, about three 
hundred in all. A man who occupied one of these cots 
attracted my attention specially, and 1 took his case in 
charge. 

The surgeons, 1 saw, could not reach him for some 
hours, and I went to work on him. I will say here that 
every man undf^r this shed was badly wounded. This 
man was wounded at Peachtree Ci'eek, the ball cutting off' 
a portion of the lower part of his right ear, passing diag- 
onally through his head, taking away a small portion of 
the top of his left ear in its exit. He laid tw^o days on the 
field without any attention, was then taken up, and, after 
a slight local dressing, loaded in a box car and sent to 
Xewnan. The head was so swollen that his eyes were 
closed, and he hardly resembled a human being. He 
could not speak, and his groans were so feeble they could 
scarcely be heard. 1 had no hope of saving his life, but 
thought I would do something to ease him off', so I went 
to work. I first washed the blood off' his face and out of 
his hair, then rolled his head up in a big wad of cloths, 
just leaving him a breathing hole. I poured a bucket of 
cold water on the bandages and went on. I found an old 
tin bucket with one or two very small holes in the bottom, 
which, after trial, I found leaked just fast enough. This 
I swung over my patient's head and filled with water, by 
which I kept him supplied and economized time. 

In a few hours I got a little water down his thioat 
and he became quiet. 

AA'hen the doctor reached my patient he indorsed my 
treatment, and I kept it up. 




Maj Rice r. Graves 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 237 

About the second day I began to give bim a little 
nourishment, and, at the same time, a good bath all over 
and some clean clothes, of which you may imagine he 
stood in great need. 

About the fourth day the swelling had nearly all dis- 
appeared and he could speak, and when I left Newnan, 
about four weeks later, he was walking about everywhere 
he wished, and so the num I tried to help die easy was go- 
ing to get well after all. 

Now, don't any of you say that I was sorry, for you 
know that ain't so. 1 am glad he got well, and especially 
glad'of the hand I had in his recovery. 

This is only one case out of hundreds of this kind, but 
this space will not allow a description of any more. 

This is only written to show what a man can stand 
under some circumstances, and to prove that hope should 
never- be given up while life is in the body. Something- 
may be done at the critical moment to turn the tide. 

The battle of Decatur accomplished nothing more 
than to further deplete our force as the loss was heavy. 
The Federal loss was greater than ours, but they did not 
feel it like w^e, as they could replace it with recruits and 
we could not. 

We lost General Walker in this flght and the Fed- 
eral (ieneral McPherson was killed. 

Sherman now abandoned Hood's right and made his 
next move to his left and on August 30tli another severe 
battle was fought with the same result as Peachtree: 
heavy loss to both sides. 

This — Jonesboro — was a short battle but very severe 
and memorable in history for its stubborness. 

Deeds of valor were performed by both armies and 



16 



238 REMINISCENCES 

the Kentucky "Orphan" brigade covered itself over with 
glory. 

Under the leadership of General Joe Lewis it stood 
like a wall of granite and swept down everything before 
it. I was afterwards on the battlefield and where the "or- 
phans" fonght the trees were literally torn to pieces by 
minnie balls and not a bush was left standing. It is won- 
derful how any escaped. 

Along in August Sherman sent a cavalry force under 
General Stoneman around Hood's right and one under 
General McCook around his left with the object of meet- 
ing in Hood's rear and destroying the Macon and Western 
railroad by which his army received its supplies. 

General Cerro Gordo Williams with his Kentucky 
brigade and Dibrell's Tennessee brigade met Stoneman 
near Hillsboro and captured him and his whole force. 

General Wheeler got after McCook who made all 
haste to get back to Sherman, and took the road that led 
through Newnan. 

Our army had captured more arms than it could 
find men for and had distributed a great nmny around to 
the hospitals and kept them ready for action. In case 
a raiding party came along the convalescents could help 
defend the town. 

We heard that McCook was coming and every man 
who could stand, got a gun and found a good place to 
shoot from. 

We had a very respectable force and when McCook 
started into town we made it so hot for him that he con- 
cluded to take "roundance" and as we had no rule to 
"vent evers" had to let him go. But Wheeler was so close 
after him that he cornered him at a big swamp two miles 
below town and forced him to fight. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER, 239 

Roddy's brigade had been dismounted in North Ahi- 
bania to go to Atlanta to reinforce Hood and the train 
bearing them pulled in to our town just at this time. The 
men rolled off the train and went out to the battle ground. 
I wanted to see the end of it and hobbled along with them. 

When we arrived, Wheeler had just formed his line 
to advance and we fell in. We charged them and drove 
them back about a half mile when a flag of truce was 
hoisted. 

In our charge we captured a thousand prisoners, be- 
sides killing and wounding over a hundred, and only had 
to demand their unconditional surrender to have raked 
in the whole pot, but Wheeler and McCook were West 
Pointers of the same class and because of the ''ethics of 
the profession" Wheeler allowed McCook to parley him 
out of all the daylight he had and that night — which was 
very dark — he and a few hundred of his men slipped off. 
General Williams or General Forest would have captured 
the whole gang. 

Finding them gone, next morning Wheeler pursued 
and found them crossing the Chattahoochie and charged 
them. 

The Yankees were so stampeded that throwing away 
their arms they plunged into the river, a frightened strug- 
gling mass of men and horses and many were drowned. 

Some amusing things occur in the army and one of 
them happened to me on this occasion. During the night 
while we had McCook at bay, I went on an independent 
scout and captured a Yankee riding a big black mule. I 
turned the Y^ankee over to the guard but kept the mule. 

About noon the next day as I rode into town on my 
mule I was met by an old gentleman with "glad to see you, 
where did you get my mule?" "Y'our mule," said I, "Is 



2^0 REMINISCENCES 

this your mule?'' "Yes," said he, ^That's Prince." Ev- 
ery body in this country knows Prince. Why, I've owned 
Prince for twenty years." All right, said I, prove prop- 
erty and take it, and he wasn't long about it. In less 
than ten minutes he had a crowd of twenty men on the 
spot who all swore "yes thafs Prince," and I was afoot 
again. 

The old man introduced himself to me as Mr. Grif- 
fith, the postmaster at Palmetto, and told me that the 
Yankees stole "Prince" from him when they passed 
through that town some days before. He also asked me 
what I charged him for the recapture of "Prince" and 
when I told him that I was only doing my duty as a soldier 
and charged him nothing (this was hard to say for I 
hadn't a cent) he seemed very thankful and said "If you 
won't take any pay I am going to make you a nice present 
anyhow;" at the same time drawing from his pocket a' 
big leather wallet, full to bursting with new Confederate 
bills. 

This action made me feel good and the old motto, 
"Virtue is its own reward," went ringing through my 
head as I anticipated a hundred, a fifty, at least a twenty 
dollar bill from the old fellow's generosity. Carefully 
running through his pile from the five hundred dollar 
bills down to the twenties and after repeating the per- 
formance he fished out a fift}' cent shinplaster and otfered 
it to me with "I thought I had more change but I find 1 
haven't. Take that; it will do you some g-ood and if you 
are ever at Palmetto, stop and take dinner with us. I 
have two grown girls who play on the piano and sing well 
and they will be glad to see you and thank you for return- 
ing 'Prince' because he is their buggy horse." 

L declined his present with thanks and told him that 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 24 1 

JetT Davis ])aid me for doiiij; my duty and as for his invi- 
tation T did not suppose it would ever be convenient to 
eall, at the same time 1 rose up and went into the house 
with a different motto ringing in my head, which was — 
pardon the language — 'sTohn you are a fool." 

A few years ago I met Lieutenant Rush Irwin, who 
lives in that country, and he told me that old man Grif- 
fith was still postmaster at Palmetto but he could give me 
no account of ^'Prince." As he would now be at least lif- 
ty-five years old 1 expect he is dead. 

But I had one exceedingly pleasant experience while 
at Newnan. Going out one day to take a little exercise 
I walked down the street leading to the academy. This 
seemed to be a residence street. The buildings and yards 
bordering it were all neat and bright and one especially 
attracted my attention. The house itself was not so dif- 
ferent from the others but the surroundings gave it a set- 
ting that was attractive. The front yard was filled with 
flowers and shrubbery neatly trimmed and trained. The 
portico supported thick, trailing vines, so arranged as to 
form an arch over the entrance and under this arch stood 
a beautiful young lady looking as neat and sweet as her 
surroundings. As I approached the gate I kept my eyes 
turned on the beautiful view and discovered that the 
young lady was giving me a close inspection. All at once 
she ran out to the gate where she halted and gave me an- 
other close scrutiny. Seeming satisfied she threw the 
gate open and with ^'My dear, dear brother," rushed at me 
with open arms and had almost hugged and kissed me 
before I could remonstrate. Here was a dilemma and I 
had short time to decide, whether to act the gentleman 
and save the lady the mortification I knew she would feel, 
or act the hog and revel in the sweet kisses I knew she 



242 REMINISCENCES 

would shower on me. I am glad to say that Kentucky 
gallantry decided the question in time for me to put up 
my hand and stay the catastrophe. She discovered her 
mistake and did not faint, but like a true, nervy lady stood 
her ground and explained how it occurred. She had re- 
ceived a letter from her brother in Virginia, who was 
wounded in the thigh, and had so far recovered that he 
was to be sent home to get well. The train had passed 
a few minutes before and she supposed that he had pre- 
ferred to walk home. As he was about my height and, of 
course, had to use a crutch, taken all together with her 
anxiety to meet him, explained it. Just at this juncture 
an ambulance was driven up and out came the expected 
brother and I was forcibly struck by his close resem- 
blance to myself in all except face — I was the best look- 
ing you know — and I enjoyed the hugs and kisses that 
old dirty rebel got much more that I would have done had 
I stolen them. I started to move on, but no, I was called 
back, invited in and was a welcome participant in the 
joys of that household for the balance of the day and a 
welcome guest many succeeding days. 

The old motto, "Virtue is its own reward," held good 
in this case if it did "ily up*' in the case Bro. Griffith and 
Prince 




CHAPTER XVI. 

JUST before tlie Jonesboro battle all the crippled who 
could be moved — there vNere no sick, nobody ever 
got sick then — were sent to Americus and other ])oints 
further south. 

Our squad went to Americus which is situated on 
the Macon and P^ufala railroad eight miles south of An- 
dersonville Prison. 

I was detailed as a purchasing agent to obtain sup- 
plies for the hospitals and while on this duty traveled 
about on the railroads considerably. T had a free trans- 
portation ticket and a passport to travel when and where 
I pleased, but had no order for free grub and this cut 
quite a figure. I had no money to buy anything to eat 
and could not draw more than tw^o days (half) rations at 
one time, therefore, as my appetite was exceedingly ro- 
bust, I would have to make my rations and my return 
home come out even or get uncomfortably hungry. 

As I seldom ever started for any particular point, L 
could stop anywhere there was a show for business. 
Sometimes curiosity and other motives controlled my 
stops. One day in looking over the morning paper I saw 
that our people had nearly treed a Federal spy at Selma, 
Ala., and that he had disappeared as if by magic. His 
escape was looked on as simply wonderful and there were 
many theories advanced as to how he had accomplished 
it and as to his after movements. Just as I finished read- 



244 REMINISCENCES 

iiig the account I was ordered to got by next train to Ma- 
con to execute some mission for the hospital and went 
down to the depot to board the train which was due in an 
hour. 

All the time I was waiting this ''spy" business was 
running through my mind and I found myself scanning 
closely the movements of everyone about. 

After boarding the train the same feeling took pos- 
session of me and in the course of my scrutiny my eyes 
fell on a very fine looking lady just across the aisle from 
my seat. 

She was elegantly dressed, in fact overdressed for the 
time and occasion and this was what attracted my atten- 
tion to her. Moving my seat and riding backwards so as 
to face her, I settled myself to wait developments having 
no idea what they Avould bring forth, yet all the time my 
mind w^as on the escaped spy. The woman wore a thick 
veil and kept it closely drawn down which was of itself a 
little odd for a Southern lady at that time. Growing 
thirsty she went to the cooler near where I sat and drew 
a cup of water. As she pushed her veil aside I discovered 
Avhat appeared like about a two days old beard on the 
edge of her chin. She had her back to me and I could see 
the beard plainly between me and the light on the other 
side of her. 

When she turned 1 Avas straight in my seat looking 
toward the rear end of the car as though nothing had haj)- 
pened out of the ordinary but 1 kept my hand on the butt 
of my revolver and determined to keep my eye on that 
woman. 

When we reached Fort Valley she stepped off the 
train and so did I. She started immediately up town and 
I to the Provost Marshall who was standing on the plat- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



245 



form, where about this conversation look place between 
us. T will confess that I was a little excited. 

"Captain, arrest that woman," said I. 

"What for?" said the Captain. 

"Why I she's a man/' said I. 

-That's a h — 11 of an idea." said the Captain, ''how 
can a Avoman be a man? are you crazy?" And he was pro- 
ceeding to give me a piece of his mind when 1 broke in on 
him and convinced him that I was sane and very much in 
earnest. Beckoning to a squad of soldiers to follow, we 
started in pursuit and walked fast enough to gain a little 
on her. I, at the same time giving the Captain a history 
of my observations and impressions, soon had him con- 
vinced that the trail was pretty hot and he hurried up a 
little. 

The woman entered a cottage which was immediately 
surrounded by our force and the Captain and I entered. 
We found no one in the front room but pushing on came 
upon our suspect in the kitchen talking to the lady of the 
house and still closely veiled. Walking up to her the 
Captain removed her veil from over her face and there was 
the telltale beard and other evidences of the masculine 
gender, and we found enough evidences on his person and 
in his pockets to prove him to be the man we wanted. I 
never knew what became of him as times were too stirring 
to give much thought to any one subject but expect he 
met the fate that usually fell to the lot of a spy w^hen 
caught in the act. 

Curiosity led me one day to stop off at Andersonville. 
Why called Andersonville I cannot understand as it 
w^ould take a big stretch of the imagination to discover 
any towm. A railroad depot and platform, the quarter- 
master's store hospital, a few shanties, for the officers 



246 REMINISCENCES 

and guards, and the prison pen v^eie all the signs of a 
town to be seen and these were surrounded by a big pine 
forest. 

But being more interested in the prison and prisoners 
than in anything else I devoted my whole attention to 
them. I arrived on the morning train and was present 
when rations were issued. I discovered that the prison- 
ers received the same allowance as our soldiers in the 
field, who were then on half rations. The only difference 
being that we were issued cornmeal while the prisoners, 
drew cornbread of like quantity. In this they had the 
advantage as we had no skillets and had to bake our 
"Johnny" cakes on slabs split out of pine trees and by the 
time the baking was done the corncake and rosin were 
pretty well mixed. But that was all right when we got 
used to it and then it was healthy. 

The prison stockade inclosed about thirty acres of 
ground situated in the end of a beautiful valley some two 
hundred yards wide and surrounded on three sides by 
heavily wooded hills. A stream of clear water fed by a 
spring ran diagonally across the prison near the south 
end, which with the cleanly ap.pearance of every part of 
the grounds gave it — to an outsider — an appearance of 
comfort. 

The only drawback was the absence of shelter of any 
kind from the hot sun and to the thirty thousand prison- 
ers inside these walls this was the worst punishment 
they had to endure. They only had their little "flies" (or 
as we called them "dog tents") holding two men, under 
which they would crawl in the heat of the day only, to suf- 
fer almost as much as if out in the sun and contract the 
naturally resultant diseases of this manner of living. The 
wonder is that the mortality was not greater than it was 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 247 

and indeed it appears large enough as on the day I was 
there one hundred and twenty were buried. But this day 
I learned was a record breaker. Had the prisoners been 
treated as badly by the prison managers as they were 
given credit for by some prejudiced and irresponsible 
writers nearly the whole lot would be planted right now 
on the Andersonville hills. But everything was done 
that could be done to ameliorate their condition. The 
sick w^ere cared for in the hospitals as well as our own 
and had their own nurses to boot. Those who were 
growing weak were marched in large squads out into the 
woods to get exercise and rest in the shade. 

Fruit and vegetables were furnished them to prevent 
scurvy, in fact everything possible was done to alleviate 
their suffering. The Confederate authorities offered to 
allow the Federal government to send its own surgeons, 
medicines and provisions and administer them them- 
selves, at the same time pleading for an exchange of pris- 
oners and even sending a delegation of the prisoners to 
Washington to beg their government to relieve them in 
this way. This delegation was refused a hearing and had 
to return to prison and despair. 

We did the best we could and in the light of after 
knowledge, did wonderfully well under the circumstances 
as the official figures show. The official report of Sur- 
geon (General Barnes, U. S. army, shows that the number 
of Confederate prisoners in their hands was 220,000, while 
the number of Federal prisoners in our hands was 270,- 
000. The report of Secretary of War Stanton gives the 
number of Confederates dying in northern prisons at 26,- 
000 and of Federals dying in southern prisons at 22,000. 
With an excess of 50,000 prisoners the Southern death 



248 REMINISCENCES 

rate was 4,000 less than in the North. These fij^ures are 
official and tell their story. 

The natural question is asked, who was the cause of 
this? While soldiers, South and North, respect the name 
of General Grant, it will surprise many to know that he 
was responsible, as his dispatch to General Butler on 
August 18, 1864, goes to proye. Here it is: 

^^On the subject of exchange, howeyer, I differ from 
General Hitchcock. It is hard on our men held in 
Southern prisons not to exchange them, but it is humani- 
ty to those left in the ranks to light our battles. 

Eyery man released on parole, or otherwise, becomes 
an actiye soldier against us at once, either directly or in- 
directly. If we commence a system of exchange which 
liberates all prisoners taken we will haye to fight on until 
the South is exterminated. If we hold those caught, 
they amount to no more than dead men. At this particu- 
lar time to release all rebel prisoners North would insure 
Sherman's defeat and would compromise our safety 
here." 

This is the science of war, but it is hard on the sol 
dier. 

While at Americus I had an opportunity of seeing 
Captain Wirz's blood hounds perform and I am pretty 
sure that they syere not more interesting to me than the 
men they were after. 

One night, three Yankees, who were detailed to nurse 
their sick comrades at Andersonyille, deserted their posts 
and lit out for a more Northern and congenial climate 
and as afterward proyed passed through Americus. 

Their flight was discoyered next morning and the 
dogs put on their trail. About ten o'clock the dogs with 
three men following on horseback came into town and 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



249 



proceeded (luitely down the main street and out into the 
country beyond. The dogs were not loose but each was 
lield by a long tether and although hundreds of people 
had passed over the ground that morning they neA er made 
a halt but trotted quietly along unerringly follow^ing 
the trail. 

They did not give tongue like our fox-hounds, but 
now and then would raise their heads and give a kind of 
whine, which could only be heard a short distance. I 
learned that they had been trained to this in order not to 
give their quarry notice of their approach and a chance 
to escape. Along in the afternoon the men returned 
Avith two of the Yankees. The third swam the river and 
they did not follow him, but took in the other two who 
could not swim. 

While three of us Avere taking a stroll one evening, 
Ave came upon a church all lighted up as if for services 
and walked in. I will confess that our action was 
prompted more by curiosity than devotional feeling. 

The church was pretty well filled, mostly ladies — but 
we were given seats a few rows from the front. The 
minister, an old gray haired "Aisitor" rose in the pulpit 
and read out the old hA-mn : "Am I a Soldier of the 
Cross." After reading the hymn through and repeating 
the first two lines he announced that ''as this is an old fa- 
miliar hymn we will sing without lining. Will some one 
please 'raise' the tune? 

Now the old, everyday "leader" was at home sick and 
there seemed to be no one to take his place. The preacher 
insisted that he could not sing himself and begged some 
one to make a start. 

Being ahvays ready to help any one out of trouble, 
and being a pretty good singer myself, besides, I own to 



250 REMINISCENCES 

feeling a little devilish; 1 gave tli^ boys the wink and 
while the preacher was yet begging for music, we started 
up. One of the boys was a good bass singer, the other a 
fine alto, the whole congregation joined in with the spirit 
and the understanding and I doubt if the old church 
walls had ever heard such singing before. As a conse- 
quence I had to "•pitch" all the tunes and you ought to 
have heard the rendering of "Jesus lover of my soul" at 
the end of the service. Why, we came near having a 
shoutin' meeting right there. 

Before the benediction the preacher requested the 
^'dear soldier brethren," who had so kindly assisted in the 
service to remain, as he and the brethren and sisters 
w^ished to make our acquaintance and thank us person- 
ally. We held quite a reception and received showers of 
thanks and compliments and many good wishes for our 
future welfare and many earnest invitations to come 
again, all which we stood heroically and got back to onr 
quarters with sore hands but no bones broken. 

Hearing that the Kentucky infantry were to be 
mounted, were then camped near Griffin and feeling able 
to do light duty I got a discharge from the liospital and 
left for the front. 

Our brigade had gone with General Wheeler into 
Middle Tennessee to destroy Sherman's line of supply and 
about Manchester became separated from the balance of 
the command. 

As General Williams could not get to General 
Wheeler, he decided to make his way out through East 
Tennessee. When near Knoxville he heard that General 
Burbridge was on his way to Saltville, Va., to destroy the 
salt works and decided to see him about it. Pushing on 
by forced marches he arrived before Burbridge and found 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 25 I 

General Breckeiirid^e and a few militia the only force to 
defend the works. The arrival of Oeneral Williams was 
very fortunate and when Bnrbridge attacked the place 
he got the worst '"lickin" you ever heard of. His forces 
were utterly routed and scattered and General Burbridge 
laid on the shelf the rest of the war. 

. My regiment being absent in Virginia when I left the 
hospital 1 went to the infanti'y brigade and fell in with 
the same company that I was with at the Chickamauge 
battle. Captain Jack Brown commanded the company. 
The change from infantry to cavalry was conducive of 
some vei-y amusing and ludricious incidents and the bri- 
gade was an enlarged edition of the "awkward squad." 
But it will take a whole chapter to relate the incidents 
occurring in connection with the mounting of the "Or- 
phans," in fact if properly recorded they would make a 
vei'y interesting book. 

It might be expected that after the long and gallant 
service of the "Orplians," as they were to be mounted, 
they would be furnished the very best of everything. 
With the Kentuckian's known love for, and pride in a 
good horse, it is natural to suppose that the attempt, at 
least, would be made to gratify them by giving them 
something good and sei'viceable. Not so however. 

All the worn out and disabled horses of the cavalry 
and artillery were gathered up and turned over to the 
Kentuckians. There was not a horse in the lot able to 
do duty. Some were worn out with long, hard service 
and all were defective in some way. Sore backs, sore 
shoulders, gunshot wounds, skinned legs, "graveled" 
boofs, in fact almost every ill that horse is heir to, and all 
were very |)oor. It was the greatest aggregation of 
^^Crow bait" I ever saw in one place, and not good decent 



2 52 REMINISCENCES 

"Crow bait" at that. In fact I thitik a real sensible crow 
would have thought twice before risking the whole lay- 
out to furnish him a decent square meal. 

And the equipments! If possible they were worse 
than the horses. Old dilapidated saddle trees, innocent 
of stirrups or leathers, and bridles without bit or head- 
stall, was the rule, and numbers of the boys had not so 
much as either saddle or bridle or the semblance thereof. 

But they accepted the situation as they found it and 
went to work with a will to fix themselves up for business. 
They concocted all sorts of liniments and lotions and put 
in their whole time bathing, rubbing and feeding with 
such good effect, that in three weeks nearly all the horses 
were ready for duty. 

1'he next item was saddles and bridles which the boys 
manufactured in their dreams, at least I suppose they 
did, as they always procured them at night. Why they 
dreamed so many styles of saddles I could never tell. 

They were all styles, shapes and patterns. Old 
men's saddles, young men's saddles and boys' saddles, but 
very few of the army pattern. I believe they were all 
made for the masculine gender as I don't remember any 
women's saddles in the lot. 

Hillary Ilagar of my company, who had been left be- 
hind with the wagons, when the regiment went into Ten- 
nessee, came over to our camp leading a good horse with 
saddle and bridle, loaned them to me. and thus I became 
the best mounted man in the brigade. 

We moved up nearer Atlanta and camped at Rock- 
bridge about four miles from Sherman's advanced line, 
from which point we could watch the movement of his 
force and be at a safe distance ourselves. 

(Teneral Lewis sent out a scout everv dav and as I had 




Feeling for a Furlough. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



253 



had a good deal of experience I was requested to go with 
the most of them and for the time being ranked the officer 
in command. 

It was quite amusing to a cavalryman to see how 
awkward the boys were and I had many a good laugh at 
their expense. Sometimes (his awkwardness came near 
producing serious results, when it was no laughing mat- 
ter. 

On one occasion Captain Jack Brown was sent out 
and I went along. Our objective point was about fifteen 
miles distant on another part of Sherman's line and our 
road skirted his pickets, though not very far from them, 
which necessitated great caution on our part. Captain 
Brown placed me in charge and I sent two men in ad- 
vance to watch for danger. ^ 

We were riding quietly along, each man, given up to 
his own thoughts, when all at once our videts halted and 
signaled to us to prepare for danger. Captain Jack rolled 
off his horse and gave the order: 

"Get down and take trees boys, we'll fight 'em right 
here." 

And before I could remonstrate, every mother's son 
of them was off his horse, and out in the woods ready for 
fight. I explained to Captain Jack that we came to see 
and not to fight and at last succeeded in getting them 
mounted again, when I galloped forward and found that 
General Iverson, who was camped on another part of the 
line, had sent a scout in our direction and it was this par- 
ty we had met. We exchanged information and both re- 
turned to our respective camps. 

I had a good laugh at Captain Brown's expense. His 
explanation was that he had not been accustomed to 
hunting Yankees; the cavalry had always done that for 

17 



2 54 REMINISCENCES 

him, and when found he had been in the habit of fighting 
them to the best advantage. On this occasion his old 
habit had asserted itself and he forgot all about his horse. 

In the course of our observations we found out that 
Sherman sent a scouting train every day down the rail- 
road toward East Point. 

(leneral J^ewis decided on its ca})ture and moved the 
brigade up to near a good point to ambush the train. Dis- 
mounting all but the horseholders we moved up the road 
which ran parallel with the railroad and from fifty to a 
hundred yards distant except at one point where it ran 
beside the track. General Lewis ordered the horses to be 
kept a short distance in the rear of the column and we 
marched on to get a good position. 

AVe found it* in a thick woods at a curve in the rail- 
road which seemed to have been made for the purpose. 

We had not been in position long till we heard the 
train slowly approaching, and everyone was ready. Soon 
we could see the engine slowly creeping along, drawing 
ten box cars loaded inside and out with "blue coats" and 
three pickets on the cowcatcher. 

When nearly into our trap and just as the engine 
poked her nose around the curve we noticed the three 
pickets raise their guns and fire down the road in front 
of them. 

Quicker than I can tell it the Yankees jumped from 
the cars, behind the railroad embankment, and the engi- 
neer backed the train up the road. 

We raised the yell and charged them, but it did no 
good. They were as many as we and they were in- 
trenched. 

We fought them for an hour and retired without 
gaining our point and but little damage done. We no- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 255 

ticed that the only charge made by the Yankees was on 
the right of our line and the fighting there was fierce for 
a few minutes. We were unable to account for this until 
the battle was over, when we found that the officer in 
charge of the horses had abandoned the dirt road for the 
railroad, was leading his party up the track meeting the 
train, and when within less than a hundred yards of the 
curve came face to face with the engine. It was the horse 
holders the Yankee pickets fired at, and the attempt to 
capture the horses caused the hard fighting on our right. 
But for the stubborn resistance from that quarter the 
^'Orphans" would have been plain infantry again. It was 
amusing to hear the horseholders relate their experiences 
in trying to get away with their horses. The woods were 
so thick, they could not get out that way, and in trying to 
get back down the railroad track they got all tangled and 
mixed up, and the bullets flying thick it is a wonder that 
no one was killed but it is nevertheless true. 

General Lewis, as well as his men, was greatly disap- 
pointed at the failure of this expedition. 

I didn't hear the General ''cuss" but he looked very 
much like he wanted to. The men were not so quiet over 
it and indulged to their hearts content, but it soon blew 
over and the} were ready for another scrap. But the 
boys learned fast and before the close were as good as the 
best. 

On two occasions I slipped through the Federal lines 
and got to a point where I could see into Atlanta and 
Sherman's camp. By climbing into a tree I had a better 
view and was more secure against discovery. The last 
time w^as a day or two before Sherman began his march 
to Savannah and I could see that some important move 
was near. On my first trip all was quiet while now all 



56 



REMINISCENCES 



was activity and bustle. Our Gefieials were aware that 
something was on foot and when I reached camp I found 
the command under marching orders. 

I learned that my regiment had returned from Ten- 
nessee and was then camped at Flat Rock. Being anx- 
ious to be with the bovs again, I with Hillary Hagar and 
five or six others of our command who liad been with Gen- 
eral Lewis while our brigade was gone, started out to find 
them. Along in the afternoon we came to a large flat 
rock, said to be fise jniles across and taking a course indi- 
cated by a citizen \^e met near the rock, came out safely 
on the other side just at nightfall. This rock is one of the 
greatest curiosities I met with in the South. Composed of 
granite, turtle back in shape with a fissure now and then 
in which a few stunted shrubs had taken root and^notliing 
to break the monotony, it was indeed a long and lonesome 
ride. Owing to the formation we could not see the sur- 
face far in any direction and we felt insolated from the 
rest of the world. 

Our voices, even sounded unnatural and we soon set- 
tled down to perfect silence. Oui' feelings can be imag- 
ined when just as night was closing in we discovered a 
farm house, where we w ere kindly welcomed and where 
we j)ut up for the night, after learning that our command 
had moved away. 

The next morning we started after our command, 
crossed the rock in another direction from the one we 
came, and after three days trailing we caught the boys 
just going into camp. 

They were tired and worn from their long hard trip 
and congratulated themselves that their trials were over 
for a time and that they would get a good rest. Every- 
thing indicated that this was i:o be, as the camp was 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 257 

pitched ill a pleasant fertile valley with plenty of food, 
forage and good water; just the place in fact to enjoy a 
good rest. How they were disappointed and how to the 
end it was one continued struggle with but little rest; and 
less to eat, and how through all, Williams' Kentucky cav- 
alry brigade kept its reputation unsullied and its courage 
bouyant, being finally awarded the post of lionor, and giv- 
ing up only when the last hope fled, will be the substance 
of the chapters to follow. 




CHAPTER XVII. 

ON the return of our brigade from Tennessee General 
Williams was relieved of his command and placed 
under arrest. What for, he nor we ever knew — as he 
could never get a trial though insisting on being con- 
fronted with the charge and his accusers — but it was un- 
dei'stood that it was for disobedience of orders in going 
to Saltville and whipping Burbridge instead of joining 
Wheeler in Alabama as he was ordered to do. 

Colonel W. C. P. Breckenridge, being senior colonel, 
assumed command of the brigade and we were under his 
orders until General Williams w^as released from arrest 
(without trial) and assumed command at Columbia, S. C. 
While we liked Colonel Breckenridge; esteemed him high- 
ly, and while he was gallant and an efficient officer, yet we 
rather resented the supposed injustice done General Wil- 
liams (old "pap") and I have no doubt added to the cares 
of Colonel Breckenridge. However, no one ever showed 
his resentment openly and the Colonel never had cause 
to complain of any one under him for dereliction, but the 
boys often wished for ''Old Pap" when they had sharp 
work to do. 

The morning of November 2(jf, 18GI, dawned bright 
and beautiful. Nature seemed to have donned her Sun- 
day clothes and peace appeared to reign everywhere. 

Our boys in camp were enjoying the long-looked-for 
and needed rest, utterly oblivious of the trouble so near at 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



259 



hand and nnprepared for the sudden breaking up of their 
blissful dreams. 

About 10 o'clock a lot of cavalrymen dashed into and 
through our camp, some minus coats and hats and nearly 
all without any arms. 

We saw that they were badly scared but could learn 
no reason for it, as we were unable to stop any of them 
long enough to enlighten us. From ''forc^e of habit" we 
saddled up and got ready and succeeded in ''corraling" 
one of the fugitives long enough to tell us that Killpat- 
rick had charged on General Iverson's camp and "killed 
or captured all except me.-' 

We began to hear reports of fire arms out front and 
prepared for the attack we felt was coming and took posi- 
tion on the crest of a hill with an open field in front of us. 

General Iverson commanded a brigade composed 
mostly of conscripts and they were not to be relied on like 
the volunteers. 1 hine known them to fight bravely and 
to run like turkeys on other occasions. They were like 
Dutchman's flea — "you never knew when to depend on 
them." 

The fighting ceased before it reached our line and 
Irverson, with what men he had left with him, retired to 
our rear. The enemy did not show himself and Captain 
Taylor was sent out with his company to find out what 
he was about. The Captain as usual went as far as he 
could and it was only speed and a piece of good luck that 
saved him and his men from capture. Finding that he 
was about to be surrounded the Captain "cut and run" 
with his company, followed by a squad of howling Yan- 
kees. 

All our boys kept their advantage, except Billy 
McKay. Billy rode a nice sjxitted horse, pretty to look 



26o REMINISCENCES 

at, but, as turued out. lacking in both speed and bottom. 

The race was at least a mile and as the boys neared 
our lines Billy fell in the rear and the Yankees gained on 
him. They had emptied their guns and pistols and wer*e 
depending on the speed of their horses to overtake him. 
We took in the situation, secreted ourselves and when 
Billy dashed through our lines with the Yankees close at 
his heels we rose up and captured the whole gang, about 
thirty in all. 

Captain Taylor saw enough to know that the enemy 
was flanking us on the right and we moved back to get in 
front of him, leaving I^ erson to protect our left. 

Just as we had dismounted to take our position Kil- 
patrick charged Iverson and here they came pell mell 
down on us, Yankees and Georgians all mixed. 

We had dismounted at the fork in the road with the 
intention of defending both roads, but before we got into 
line friends and enemies were both on us and for awhile 
there was some confusion and a free-for-all fight; but we 
finally got in order, down to business and repulsed the 
Yankees handsomely, and learned them to be a little more 
careful who they tried to run over. 

This was about as liA^ely a tussle for a little while as 
I ever witnessed. A Pennsylvania Captain led the charge, 
followed by six men and all were shot down in a pile the 
first volley. 

Heven balls pierced the Captain's breast and you 
could cover them all with your hand. Any one would 
have i)roved fatal. He rode a fine clay-bank mare and 
wore, besides his sword, two very fine ivory-handled pis- 
tols. His uniform was of the finest; also his sash, and his 
shirt front immaculate. He was dressed as if for dress 
parade and altogether was rather a more conspicuous fig- 




C, Lewis Curry, 

Enlisted in 1861 iu Company I, First Kentncky Cavalry. Was at the 
battle of Fort Donaldson under General N. B. Forest and followed the for- 
tunes of that command until his Company was mustered out of service, 
when he returned home and married. He followed farming for several 
years, when he was elected Jailer of Union County, Ky., and twice re- 
elected ;to the same office. Was appointed by Governor Buckner to be 
Warden of the Eddyville penitentiary, which position he held until 1897. 
He moved to Sturgis, Ky., and engaged in mercantile pursuits, but his 
health failed, and he died in the winter of 1898 and was buried by his 
comrades in the cemetery at Mt. Pleasant. 

The friend of everybody, but the special friend of the old soldier. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 26 1 

lire than olliccis usually liked to be in battle. Hut there 
was no discount on his braverv. We decided that he was 
fool brave, and some went so far as to say that he sought 
this chance to get killed. 

Billy Lashbrook was within a few yards of this Cap- 
tain when he fell from his horse and was in his saddle al- 
mos-t as soon as the Captain's body touched the ground. 

Billy owned a fine horse, of which he thought a great 
deal. On the Tennessee raid a gravel had worked into 
the horse's hoof and lamed him. 

Billy got hold of a little mule to ride and led his 
horse, refusing to part with him. 

When Billy got the Captain's mare he was finely 
mounted, but still held on to his horse until his foot got 
well, rode him till the surrender, then home to Daviess 
county, Ky., kept him till he died, only a few years ago, 
and I learn that Billy buried him as reverently as he 
would any of his old comrades. 

While we were trying to form a line across the road 
when the Yankees were charging Iverson's men, a Geor- 
gian riding a big horse dashed down toward us. 

Before I could get out of the way the horse struck 
me on the side, knocked me against and over the fence, 
the top rails falling on me, one striking the back of my 
head, and for a few seconds I was so "rattled" that I 
didn't know "where I was at." Coming to my senses I 
realized that I was in close quarters and seeing a tree 
standing in the field some twenty feet away I broke for 
that. 

This turned out to be a bad move, for I was the only 
man in the field and, drew the fire of everything in my 
front and for a few minutes they made the bark fly. I 
had no chance to peep out or do anything. I tell you, I 



262 REMINISCENCES 

froze to that tree so close and tight tlnxt I had a hard pull 
to get away from it after the boys had driven the Yan- 
kees off. 

One very sad thing occurred at this fight. A young 
man — whose name I am sorry I cannot now remember — 
in the first excitement, before we had got in line was 
struck in the back with a minnie ball which passed 
through his body. After the fight he was taken to a 
house near by where he died in a few hours. And here 
comes the sad part of it. He was a nice gentlemanly fel- 
low, hardly twenty years of age, brave as a lion and a gen- 
eral favorite of all who knew him. 

While we did all we could to alleviate his bodily pain 
we were unable to ameliorate iiis mental suffering. 

He mourned over — what he termed — the disgrace of 
being shot in the back. "O," said he, ''I don't mind dy- 
ing, for I have expected to be killed in every battle, but 
the thought that mother will hear that her boy was shot 
in the back, is what I care most for. Poor old mother, 
this disgrace will break her heart." 

We did all we could to comfort him but he would ac- 
cept no consolation and died with, ''Boys, don't tell 
mother I was shot in the back.'' Such a spirit is what 
makes heroes and produces men who will stand up boldly 
against adversity and fight an unequal battle with the 
world rather than be shot in the back. 

We gave it to the Yankees so hot here that they 
abandoned the notion of going down the Macon and 
AN'estern railroad to Macon and changed their route. 

When Sherman started from Atlanta he divided his 
army into two divisions of 25,000 to 30,000 each, one to 
take in Macon on the march and the other Augusta. 

All the force we had to oppose him was Wheeler's 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



263 



cavalry corps, which, owing to the circumstances, was 
scattered all around Sherman's army. Our brigade and 
Iverson's was all the force we had to keep the Yankees 
out of Macon, yet we succeeded as did General Wheeler 
on the other side and forced, or at least, caused Sherman 
to unite his forces, leave Macon and Augusta out of his 
trip and push on to Savannah. 

There is one thing which has always been to me inex- 
plicable. With the force that Sherman had he could 
have divided his army up into divisions of 15,000 men each 
and each division could have gone at will anywhere in the 
South except to Richmond. 

We did not have the force to stop them, yet after the 
first week out from Atlanta he appeared to get scared and 
with his fifty or sixty thousand men made a rush for the 
coast, when we did not have five thousand men to oppose 
him. I can't understand it. 

With the exception of this first dash, we were not 
greatly troubled any more with Sherman's cavalry. We 
had light skirmishes as we fell back toward Macon, but 
no engagement worth notice, and when we reached Ma- 
con, where we expected hard work, we found no enemy, 
but Sherman was not far away, so we crossed the Oc- 
mulgee river and took a position some two miles out from 
E>ist Macon. 

To say that we were disappointed would be a lie, but 
we were greatly surprised when, after skirmishing with 
us a few hours, Sherman passed on and left us alone. 

We fell in behind him and soon began to realize the 
horrors to which the defenceless residents along this line 
of march were subjected and also his reason for hurrying 
through the country when he had every chance to take 
his own time and go as he pleased. 



264 REMINISCENCES 

The cavaliy arm of the service is* known as the ''eyes 
and ears" of the army. Its duty is to watch the move- 
ments of the enemy, lead all advances, cover all retreats 
and fight like the old Harry whenever there is any fight- 
ing to do. We had met Kilpatrick's cavalry on several 
fields and found them hard fighters. We could not un- 
derstand why, after our first brush with them, they 
seemed to avoid us as much as possible. But the story 
was told and Sherman's haste to get through the country 
was explained when he reached the ground his army had 
passed over. 

His line of nuirch from Atlanta to below Augusta 
was through the richest portion of the Htate. Settled by 
wealthy planters who lived in palatial residences, richly 
furnished and surrounded by highly cultivated planta- 
tions; was indeed the "garden'' of the South. The men 
were all in the army and the women fearing for life and 
honor fled with their children to a place of safety, leaving 
home and property to the mercy of the invader. 

Finding the houses abandoned the cavalry first se- 
cured everything of value and applied the torch to the 
balance. Now and then a family would decide to stay 
and take the consequences. 

In numerous cases their bitter experience was too 
horrible to relate. At first these acts of vandalism were 
confined to the cavalry, but the infantry soon caught the 
contagion, organized foraging parties and prowled over 
the country, spreading rnin wherever they went. It was 
our business to keep these foragers in as small a compass 
as possible, and this kept us busy day and night. 

It is not my object to revive old animosities and I dis- 
claim any such intention, but only to tell the truth of his- 
tory. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



265 



In a Strip of countiy ranging from five to twenty 
miles wide, extending from Atlanta to Louisville, Ga., 
everything that could not be carried oft' was destroyed. 

The country was left so desolate that "a crow wish- 
ing to cross it had to carry his rations with him." 

This may have been the science of war but hard to 
reconcile to our boasted civilization. 

Old men were hung up by the neck to force them to 
tell where they had their valuables hidden and women 
Avere outraged indiscriminately, heedless to say that 
when caught in the act no mercy was shown, but owing 
to their numbers they pretty generally escaped, although 
many of them are now filling dishonored graves. 

Not all of JSherman's army were of this kind, but, as 
is the case with all armies, there are some men who will 
take advantage of opportunity to commit deeds that a 
true soldier would scorn. 

Sherman had so many of this class with him that he 
was unable to control them and for this reason hurried 
through country. His forces were so badly demoralized 
that it would have been unsafe to risk a battle with an 
enemy of one third his strength and he didn't know when 
he might have a fight on his hands. 

Although we had no serious fighting still it was con- 
tinued all day long and often far into the night, and while 
our losses were not great at any one place, in the aggre- 
gate they were gieat. Every now and then a good man 
would fall. I only remember some of their names and a 
few of the points where they were killed. 

Near Milledgeville Captain Witt, of Co. C, and Boone 
Butler, of Co. C, were killed in a skirmish in a field. They 
had been behind some hay or fodder stacks but forced to 
retreat. As they left cover Captain Witt was shot and 



266 * REMINISCENCES 

Boone endeavored to carry him oft' the field when he too 
fell pierced by a bullet. 

And thus it Avas. like the "constant drip," the ''con- 
stant drop" sadly depleted our ranks, and like the stone 
we, too, were ''worn away." 

Speaking of Milledgeville reminds me of a little fun 
I had there at Governor Brown's expense. Colonel 
Breckenridge sent a squad of us into town to look for 
"Yankee sign" in that direction and when within a mile 
of town, on rising the top of a hill, discovered ourselves 
to a negro on a mule, posted on the next rise. On seeing 
us the negro whirled and broke for town as fast as he 
could make his mule go. Thinking he might be a picket 
for the Yankees I determined to overhaul him and laid 
chase. 

We caught him just in the edge of town, but also saw 
something more interesting ahead. A carriage was be- 
ing driven furiously down the hill away from us, followed 
by wagons, carts and all sorts of vehicles and we decided 
to investigate. Leaving our negro we dashed on down 
the hill — past carts and Avagons, through piles of collards, 
turnips and other vegetables which has been jolted out of 
the carts, etc. — across the bridge and at last caught up 
with the carriage still going as fast as the horses could 
pull it. 

At our command the driver pulled up and an old dig- 
nified gentleman let down the glass in the side door, fully 
expecting to discover a lot of Yankees — I know from the 
defiant look on his face — but when he saw instead only a 
squad of ragged rebels, his dignity unbent, his face ex- 
panded into a broad smile and dismounting from his car- 
riage he introduced himself as Governor Brown, ex- 
plaining that, fearing the enemy w^ould take in Milledge- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER 267 

ville on the way and not wishing to be captured, kept his 
folks all ready to fly on the first approach of danger. He 
had sent one of his faithful negroes out on the road to 
watch for danger and when he saw him rushing back to 
town and we close after, the Governor did not stand on 
the order of his going, but went at once and in a hurry. 

The Governor was so well pleased with the turn of 
atfairs that he invited us to partake of the lunch he had 
provided for himself and family and I want to assure you 
we did not refuse. 

The chase after (Governor Brown was one of the most 
amusing episodes in my soldier experience. It could not 
be described but one would have to have taken i)art in it 
to fully enjoy the ludicrous features, not the least amus- 
ing of which was the w^recked loads of vegetables and 
other things scattered along the hillside by the different 
vehicles dashing over the rocks in the mad efforts of their 
drivers to esca])e and the sheepish look of those same 
drivers when they found there was no danger. 

Well, don't blame them for running, for in the lan- 
guage of an old Georgian whom the Yankees were hang- 
ing and we fortunately got to in time to drive them off, 
cut him down and save the old fellow's wind, as soon as 
he could talk said: "I tell you, boys, Yankees is h — 11." 
Our Milledgeville friends had probably heard of them and 
wanted to keep out of the fire. 

Sometimes we struck one of these foraging parties 
that had ''sand." I remember a scrap we had with one of 
them near Louisville, Ga. The sun was about to set and 
we had prepared to camp on the bank of a kind of lagoon 
or swamp, thinking the enemy was on tlie other side. 

We were in different stages of preparation; some had 
unsaddled, others were building fires and none expected 



268 REMINISCENCES 

an enemy near, T\ben. without a moment's warning, they 
began pouring bullets into our camp at short range. 

Under some circumstances and with some men this 
would have produced a panic, but every man grabbed a 
gun and went to shooting and we drove them back into 
the woods, when we mounted and recrossed the swamp 
where we could get a better position and see better what 
w^e had to fight; and here is where the Yankees showed 
their grit. They followed us right over, fighting like a 
lot of hornets all the way. 

After crossing the SAvamp we dismounted a skirmish 
line and entertained them while the balance of our bri 
gade was getting in position, falling back gradually as the 
Yankees advanced. 

When the Y'ankees got across they turned to the left 
down the edge of the swamp and we, thinking they were 
but the advance of a larger force, kept waiting for it to 
show up until at last we discovered that this party — 
about a hundred men — was all the Yankees out there, 
our chagrin can be imagined. We mounted and went 
after them, but they were too close to their main force 
and we failed to catch them. 

It was in this skirmish that Tobias Barnes was killed. 
He was on the skirmish line and as we were retreating up 
a small ridge a ball struck him in the back of his head and 
he fell dead. Tobias was a citizen of Crittenden county, 
member of Co. I, (Joe Williams' company,) a man of ad- 
vanced years, very tall and a splendid soldier. 

When this little flurry was over and we were return- 
ing from our fruitless chase after the foraging squad, feel- 
ing somewhat crestfallen, we discovered General Fergu- 
son's Alabama brigade formed on the hill above us where 
thev had been witnesses of the whole affair and as we 




Judge a. M. (Dolphi Hearin 



VVa.s born ut Madi^^oIlvill(^ Ky., on .lauuury \i, ls44: enlisted in Company I, 
Tenth Kentucky Cuvjilry August, 18t;2: captureil with (ien. Morgan in Ohio, July 
15, 1S63: contined at Cam}* Chase for one month and then sent to Canij) Douglas, 
where he remained until March 1, 1865, whoa he was returned to the Confederacy 
<»n parole. After all was over he returned to his native State and engaged in bus. 
iness at Marion, Ky. Ho served as Police Judge of Marion for four years, and was 
Postmaster during Cleveland's last administration. 

His sunny disposition and kind heart endear him to all with whom he comes 
in contact, and he has no enemies His greatest delight is to attend reunions, 
grasp the hands of comrades, live over again the times and deeds of the long ago, 
and render all who need it, substantial aid and encouragement. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



269 



neared them they began to "g'liy'' us about *'gettiug 
whipped by a wagon train/' We did not enjoy it in tiie 
least and felt so mean ourselves that we did not resent it, 
but our time came next morning. 

We were getting into a part of the country where 
swamps were frequent, lay across the route and were only 
to be crossed at the crossings. By getting ahead of Sher- 
man we hoped to delay him in a barren country — this was 
the end of the good — and so demoralize his army that we 
could "do him up" in the pine woods. 

For this purpose, on the morning after the fight with 
the foragers, we took an early start, but, anticipating our 
move, Sherman started earlier. 

W^e ran into his column while in motion and had the 
liveliest "scrap" we had got into for a long time. 

We struck him in the pine woods at a little country 
church (Bethel) and within fiv6 minutes after our videts 
fired, every man was engaged. The 2nd, 9th and 2nd ba- 
tallion fought dismounted and the First mounted. 

The Yankees attempted to surround us and while the 
other regiments were engaged with the enemy in front, 
ours was kept charging, first one wing then the other, 
while the whole line was fighting as if for life. 

We succeeded in extricating ourselves by one hour 
of the hardest fighting I ever witnessed — Chickamauga 
not excepted — and fortunately the Yankees were in too 
big a hurry to follow us olf the battle field. 

They even left their dead and wounded for us to care 
for and pushed on towards the coast. 

The Federal loss in this engagement was over one 
hundred killed and wounded. 

Ours was thirty-six wounded and one (Frank Thomp- 
son, C. A, 1st Kentucky) killed. 

18 



270 



REMINISCENCES 



Lieutenant t^am Levy, of the,9tb, was desperately 
wounded here — shot through the bowels and hip — and 
when we bade him good-bye we thought his "checks" 
were ready to be called for, but grit and good nursing 
pulled him through and he is still in the land of the living 
— or was about a year ago when I received a letter from 
him. He was then living at Norman, O, T., with his wife 
and three children — two boys and a girl — was practicing 
law with more or less success and having his ups and 
downs in life just like the rest of us. 

There were many deeds of valor performed on this oc- 
casion, but space will not permit me to notice them here. 

When we had succeeded in extricating ourselves 
from the clutches of Sherman's army and had fallen back 
to a position where we could see and repel an attack, if 
one was made, or have a good place to run if thought best 
to do so, we discovered Ferguson's brigade formed on a 
hill in our rear where it had been all the time we were. 
down in the woods getting ourselves "done up" and never 
offered to help us out. 

When we found out the situation and were assured 
that the Yankees did not intend to follow us we broke 
ranks, went back to Ferguson's line and individually 
and collectively^ gave them the best "cussin' " that a set 
of men ever got. We called them all sorts of mean names 
and informed them that, if they ever said "wagon train" 
to us again we would exterminate the whole lot; and we 
meant it. 

General Ferguson, seeing that there was danger of 
a conflict, gave the order and marched his brigade off the 
field by the left Hank, but we never heard any more of 
"wagon train" except among ourselves and we could "sor- 
ter" stand it. The watchword of the P>ethel church fight 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 2/1 

was ''wagon train,'' and amid the din and roar of battle 
the magic words were shouted and nerved the hearts of 
the boys to perform heroic deeds. 

While Bethel church was the last fighting of any 
consequence that occurred on Sherman's march to the sea 
it was the most unique and hotly contested occurring dur- 
ing the war. 

Colonel Breckenridge, with not over twelve hundred 
men, attacked Sherman's army of fifty thousand, fought 
it an hour, inflicting a loss of over a hundred in killed and 
wounded and escaped with his command in good order, 
giving Sherman such a scare that he marched day and 
night until he reached Savannah. 

A Captain on Sherman's stalf captured by us the next 
day would not belicAe that- we had done the fighting at 
Bethel and insisted that the bulk of Hood's army had re- 
turned from Tennesseee, were in the fight and not wish- 
ing to risk his chances in the battle Sherman had decided 
to hurry on to the coast for safety. It seemed to be a case 
of "the wicked flee" and it was really so. They had done 
so mean that they were scared almost to death and saw 
an avenger behind every bush. "Conscience doth make 
cowards of us all," and so it is. If our armies, while in 
the North had done as Sherman's did on its Southern trip, 
the pride and glory of Southern chivalry would have gone 
down with the flag and been a byword and reproach on 
civilization, branded as "vandalism" and disgraced for- 
ever. 

Of course, it makes some difl:'erence whose "ox is 
^ored," but I am proud to say that the Southern soldier 
can stand the test of comparison. 

When our armies were in the North some of the boys 
helped themselves to silks, ribbons, calico and the like, on 



272 REMINISCENCES 

their individual accounts, but woman's virtue and old age 
were respected, and private property was not ruthlessly 
destroyed. 

As before stated, Sherman made use of all the time 
at his disposal in order to reach the coast as soon as pos- 
sible and we followed in his wake, doing him all the dam- 
age in our power. On the morning after the Bethel fight 
I was in the advance guard of our force and we soon dis- 
covered that there had been a grand ''Hegira" of Yankees 
the night before. 

We found broken wagons, useless rifles, disabled and 
spiked cannon, feather beds and pillows, silk quilts, gui- 
tars, banjos and fiddles, clocks, mirrors and bronze stat- 
uary, silk and satin dresses, bibles, hymn books, one copy 
of ''Shakspeare's Complete Works," bound in calf (Billy 
Hughes and I confiscated this) and other articles of house- 
hold and kitchen furniture too numerous to mention. 
We would have been pleased to ha^e returned the above 
to their original owners, but did not have time just then 
to hunt them up 

Pressing on Sherman's track we came upon the car- 
casses of dead animals, consisting of cats, dogs, sheep, 
goats, cow^s, calves, mules, horses and one poor little 
monkey, strewn along the roadside; every one headless. 
Now and then we saw that a "flitch" had been cut from 
the ham of a fat bullock and some of the sheep w^ere mi- 
nus hindquarters, which we could readily account for on 
the grounds of a soldier's appetite, but what in thunder 
they wanted with so many heads of so many kinds of 
brutes we were at a loss to conjecture. A mile or two 
dow^i the road and the mystery was explained. In an 
angle of the cross roads we discovered a pyramid of 
heads with faces turned outward and the poor little mon- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 273 

key's head ou top looking- toward ns with a broad grin on 
his face, whether of defiance or mirth I am nnable to say. 
It may haye been funny to tliose who perpetrated the 
deed, bnt the yery wantoness of the act should have with- 
held them, and then some of them, no doubt, were akin 
to that monkey and this should have restrained them. 
Joking aside; it was sad to look upon. 

Failing to catch up with Sherman we changed our 
course, crossed the Savannah river at Sister's Ferry, aim- 
ing to beat him to Savannah by crossing the peninsula 
formed by the bend in the river and a shorter route by 
some thirty miles. But he had such a start that he beat 
us to the goal, and while crossing the river we could hear 
the boom of the guns of Fort McAllister and the Federal 
fleet, knew^ that we were too late, that Sherman had got 
there and we were left out. 

We camped that night at Sister's Ferry and listened 
to the bombardment of Fort McAllister fifty miles away. 

We found an old six-pounder iron cannon here which 
had done service in the Revolutionary war. It was old 
and rusty, badly ^'pock marked" and lying on the ground 
like an old chunk, but we cleaned some of the dirt out of 
it, fired a national salute and w^e could imagine that the 
old gun spoke with the spirit of '70. 




CHAPTER XVIII. 

BREAKING camp at daylight next morning we pushed 
on toward Savannah, the reports from the heavy 
guns of the fort and fleet sounding plainer as we advanced. 
We marched thirty miles that day and went into camp 
after dark so near the scene of action that the concussion 
from the heavy guns kept the earth in a continuous 
quake. We slept well, however, until some time after 
midnight the firing suddenly ceased, w^hich woke us as 
quickly and effectively as though a bomb had burst in our 
camp. Conjecture ran rife and we were at a loss to ac- 
count for the sudden suspension of hostilities, but de- 
cided to find out and took an early start. 

After proceeding a few miles we met a courier from 
General Hardee with the information that Sherman had 
invested the citj^ , captured the fort prepared with heav}^ 
artillery to bombard the city, and in order to save the de- 
fenceless citizens General Hardee had destroyed the de- 
fences, ironclads and army stores in his possession— ex- 
cept such as he could carry away — crossed the river and 
was now on our side with his force, amounting to some 
eight thousand men. 

We took the right of Hardee's line and camped at the 
edge of a large rice plantation situated on Savannah 
river some five miles above the city. 

This plantation contained over three thousand acres 
covered with shocks of rice latelv harvested, and on this 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 275 

rice, together with a few green weeds and pine sprouts, 
our horses subsisted lor a month and we lived on peanuts, 
sweet potatoes and rice. The difference in our rice and 
that fed to the horses was that ours was hulled, while 
theirs was fed to them in the sheaf. 

But I was luclvT again and soon escaped from this 
^^epicurean" feast. 

Alex Barrett and I, with thirty others of the brigade, 
were detailed to man a fort on the coast, guarding an in- 
let between Grahamville and Pocataligo. This harbor 
was used by our blockade runners and there were three 
Federal ''men of war'' anchored outside the bar, but out 
of reach of our guns. 

The fort mounted six guns of heavy caliber and was 
fixed up for business. Not a man of us had ever fired 
anything bigger than an Enfield rifle, but we took pos- 
session with all the confidence of veteran artillerists and 
were anxious to try issues with all the battleships, but 
they persisted in hanging to the bottom and thus "saved 
their bacon.'' 

Of course, we would have preferred that they come 
one at a time until we got our hand in, but had they all 
come at oni-e we would have given them one round any- 
how, provided we had not put our loads in wrong end 
foremost and shot ourselves. 

All "bitters have their sweets," and so it was with 
us at the fort. In the mouth of a little creek (Cane 
Creek) emptying into the bay we discovered an oyster 
bed. The water covered them only a few inches at low 
tide, when we would wade in, fill a two bushel sack, carry 
them to the foi^t and feast. Talk about "bliss," "love's 
young dream," "the delights of opium and hashesh," none 
of them fill the bill. I have eaten ovsleis almost everv- 



276 REMINISCENCES 

• 
where, in every style and fashion, since then, of all names 
and kinds — "'New York counts," ''Saddle Rocks," ^'Balti- 
more Standard," selects and XXXX — but none that could 
hold a candle to Cane Creek. I may have been hungry — 
and I suppose I was, as there was usually an aching void 
under my belt about that time — but these were certainly 
the most delicious bivalves I ever ate or have struck 
since. 

General Hardee evacuated Savannah on the night 
of the 20th-21st of December, 1864, and Sherman started 
on his tour through the Carolinas on the 22d of January, 
1865. If my readers, who are posted on the history of 
the Revolutionary war, will notice they will see that the 
field of our operations was the same as that of (Ireene 
and Cornwallis, in fact, we fought the same battles over 
and in numerous instances from behind the old breast- 
works. 

The soil of this part of the country is composed of a 
dry sand and the timber growth wholly — except in the 
swamps — of pine. The pine tree sheds its needles every 
year and the scrub pine grows rapidly. These combined 
prevent the ground from washing, as in an alluvial soil. 

As a consequence landmarks ar^ preserved and it is 
not unusual to see traces of cultivation in dense forests 
bearing evidence of having existed for a hundred years or 
more. 

Many old pine trees bore the marks of the Revolu- 
tionary struggle and we readily recognized many places 
made famous by the two "Immortals/" Marion and Sump- 
ter. 

This coincidence is another proof that man does not 
choose his destiny; that the "God of battles" lays certain 
lines for his soldiers to follow, or, as Shakspeare says: 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 277 

''There's a divinity that shai>es our ends, rough hew 
Ihem how we will." 

Shakspeare was correct. While I am not a fatalist, 
I believe that tlie same j^reat mind which ushered our 
world and its concomitants into existence, did not do so 
for His own amusement, but His glory, and while He al- 
lows His creatures to follow their own inclinations to a 
certain extent, never relinquishes His authority and 
watchful care over His creation. If this be heresy make 
the most of it. 

General Hardee took his force to Charleston and left 
only our cavalry force to oppose Sherman on his march 
through the Carolinas, but as the rainy season set in at 
this time and lasted for almost a month, we were able to 
delay his march, and while the creeks, rivers and swamps 
held out, he did not have everything his own way. 

We fought him at every point but the most serious 
engagement was at Saltcahatchie river. This is a small 
stream and would be called a creek in this country, but 
the rains had so swollen it that it was now fully two hun- 
dred yards w ide. 

The Yankees undertook to pontoon it and in the ef- 
fort lost many men, but none of them ever got across until 
the waters receded enough for them to wade and we left. 
We left because they w^ere ''too many" for us and we 
acted on the idea that ''discretion is the better part of 
valor," gave them the road and fell back about a mile to 
a swamp which extended across the road and appeared 
to us a fine place to make a stand. 

Our company was formed across the road and re- 
ceived the concentrated fire of the Yankees. Several of 
the boys got holes through their clothes but strange to 
say, although the fire was terrific for a few minutes, no 



278 REMINISCENCES 

one was killed or seriously hurt. The only casualities 
were Lewis Wall's mule and my horse which were killed 
by the first volley. 

The Yankees effected a crossing above and below us 
and before we knew it had us surrounded and thought 
they had us. ^ot so, how^ever. The boys who were 
mounted raised the yell and cut their w^ay out, leaving 
Lewis and 1 to "hold the bag." 

The first thing I did was to crawl into the crooked 
wood among the frogs and alligators and make myself 
as small as possible. This was about nine o'clock in the 
morning and the balance of the day I sat on a log in that 
swamp fighting mosquitoes, Avatching for alligators and 
reviewing Sherman's army through a little hole in the 
foliage. Just before sundown, after the last straggler 
had passed, I crept out of my hiding place and went sneak- 
ing along the edge of the swamp, ready to dodge under 
cover at the first sign of danger. I had not proceeded 
more than a hundred yards when I was hailed with ''Hey 
thar." I was a little shocked for a moment, but soon 
decided that it did not come from a Yankee (he would 
have said hal-1-lutj and answered "come out o' thar. I'm 
gwine to shell the woods." The bushes parted and out 
crawled Lewis Wall, and I then learned that his mule had 
been killed and, like me, he had hid in the swamp. 

We followed in the wake of Sherman's army until it 
went into camp. We hid out in the bushes till supper 
was over and all had retired when with our guns at a 
"right shoulder shift" we marched boldly through their 
camp as if on detailed duty. 

We managed to keep out of the light of their tires, 
but were often tempted to stop and investigate their hav- 
ersacks. It was onlv the critical situation w^e were in 



BT A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 279 

that restrained us, for we were mortal hungry and the air 
was laden with the aroma of fried ham and "shore nuft 
.oftee." with which thev had just regaled themselves. 
But resisting the temptation, (this is no lie, boys, we did; 
was afraid to tackle her) we pushed on and about sun- 
rise reached our -amp and found the boys ready to 
move. Eating a few peanuts by way o^yf^f^^l^ 
tions Lewis and I piled into a wagon and slept through 

^"*' The Yankee cavalry had gone to another part of the 
line and as we only had infantry to fight, there was a very 
p or Show of getting a -'mount," but the ^oy^ were -,ua 
to the emergency and foraged around in the swamps 
rnt 1 thev succeeded in capturing two little three year 
:,d n.ules. one white, the other black. Neither had ever 
felt the restraint of rope or halter and were as wild and 
vicious as any mule could well be imagined to be unde. 
similar circumstances. 

Thev bucked and kicked and did every wav that a 
mule could think of to "keep us off," but it wouldn t work 

Lewis and I were afoot, bad walked all night; wtne 
wearv and footsore, and rather than to continue the 
tramp, would have ridden an alligator, zebra or anything 
that wore hair or used four legs for locomotion. I can t 
tell vou here of the fun we had breaking these mules m, 
but we did it; we had to. 1 took the white mule, and we 
got to be great friends, but he never forgot our first intro- 
duction and afterwards played me a dirty trick and came 
near getting my head shot off by his cussedness. 

Resisting Sherman as best we could, our little cav- 
alrv squad fell back, gradually, but contested every foot 
of ground as stubbornly as though we had a force suf- 
ficient to meet and repel his advance. 



28o REMINISCENCES 

A\'e fought him at River's bridge, Beaufort, Barnwell, 
Midway, Barnburg, (Trahamville and every point where 
it was possible to delay his march; but had no serious en- 
gagement until the 14th of February, 1865, on the Orange- 
burg road from Columbia. 

General Wade Hampton had just been assigned to 
the command of this department and General Butler (S. 
C.) "ranking" Brigadier. 

General Butler had not had any experience in our 
kind of warfare and came near getting us annihilated. 
Ordering us to dismount, get behind rail piles, trees — 
and when they ran out — bushes, and to hold our position 
till relieved. 

General Butler formed his brigade in reserve, 
mounted, but his men might as well have been in balloons 
for all the help they could render us. The ground was in 
no w^ay suitable for cavalry, which General Butler soon 
realized and withdrew his brigade to a position some 
three miles nearer Columbia. 

In the meantime we clung to our "rail piles" and 
Sherman came on with his whole force and although we 
^^popped" away at the advancing army, w ith all our might, 
they did not return our fire, but kept coming. 

When they were within fifty yards of our line and it 
being evident if we stayed longer we would be captured, 
Colonel Breckenridge gave the order to retreat. 

My God! Any soldier knows what a trial it is to re- 
treat in the face of a superior force, and that it requires 
more courage to turn your back than your face to the foe 
under such circumstances. 

The minute we left cover, the Yankees poured a vol- 
ley into us; and the man was lucky, indeed, who escaped. 
Over thirty of our boys fell dead and wounded. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 28 1 

Tlie Second Kentucky was in the ojjen field and suf- 
fered tlie greatest loss. 

Jimmy ( 'lardy (a brother of our congressman) fell and 
two of his messmates — Jack Lewis and another whose 
name I cannot remember — attempted to carry him oft' 
the field, when both were shot down, and the three friends 
died as they had lived, for each other. 

These boys had been neighbors and friends at home, 
attended the same school, shai'ed in each other's joys and 
sorrows in their earlier lives; actuated by the same mo- 
tives when they arri\ed at man's estate they cast their 
lots together, did honor to themselves, tlieir state and 
their cause and died as they had lived — for each other. 
And this is only another one of the sad incidents con- 
nected with war — cruel war. 

We lost anothei- good man here, who sacrificed his 
life trying to save others. I allude to Jimmy Stoner, of 
the Ninth, who was acting Sergeant Major of the 
brigade. As our line was retreating he started to go 
back to see if he might not assist some belated soldier to 
make his escape and, although we begged him not to go 
he persisted and had not gone fifty yards, when a ball 
struck him in the breast, i)assing through his lungs. His 
horse, an intelligent animal, wheeled and came back to 
us, and although such a wound ordinarily unhorsed the 
man receiving it, Jimmy hung on and was brought back 
to us, and taken to the hospital at Columbia, where he 
died the second night afterward while the city was in 
flames. 

Being reinforced with about six thousand infantry 
and a battery, we were enabled to check Sherman's ad- 
vance and keep him out of Columbia till nightfall put an 
end to the struggle when our brigade crossed the Conga- 
ree on a pontoon below^ the city, going through and re- 



282 REMINISCENCES 

crossing above ou a double — toll— ►bridge, camping about 
midnight two miles out on the Atlanta road. Early next 
morning the enemy advanced and sending our horses back 
across the bridge we formed in the woods on the left of 
the bridge and made ready to meet him. 

The extreme left was fully a half mile from the bridge 
with the right reaching the road leading from it. The 
First was on the left and our company (G) on the left of 
the regiment. To the right of the road, Colonel Goode's 
( Confederates held the line, and were also in charge of the 
bridge, which they had prepared to burn, in case we were 
unable to hold it. 

A description of the bridge and the preparations for 
its destruction may assist my readers in forming a cor- 
rect idea of our experience on this occasion. 

The bridge was four hundred feet long, double track, 
three rows of braces, sided (weatherboarded) and built 
entirely of Southern yellow pine. From end to end, pine 
faggots and raw cotton, saturated with turpentine, were 
interwoven between the braces, sides and middle. 

A fire was kept burning at the north end of the bridge 
guarded by a detail of four men and a fodder pile, with 
orders: ''When the last man gets into the bridge, light 
a bundle of fodder and set her off.'' 

The first advance was made on our front, which we 
repulsed. While waiting for another attack we heard a 
few shots on the right of the road, and then for a few 
minutes all was quiet. We were trying to account for the 
sudden change when the order was passed down our line, 
''by the right tiank, by fours, double quick, march." Al- 
though a surprise, we hastened to obey and the further we 
went, the faster we ran; hurried on by our officers who 
seemed to be anxious to get away, as well they might be, 
for when we arrived at the bridge we found that the Con- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 283 

federates had crossed aud fired it, and it had the appear- 
ance of a hollow tube of fire from one end to the other. 
The Yankees had gained possession of the blutf above the 
bridge, and the river bank below it, and poured minnie 
balls into roof and sides like a hail storm, but we risked it, 
and rushed through, and strange to say, although bullets 
and splinters tiew thick around, not a man was wounded, 
but all nearly suffocated and badly scorched and ten or 
fifteen of the boys, who stumbled and fell, got hands and 
faces so badly burned that then' had to go to the hospital. 

On crossing the bridge, we formed along the river 
bank and kept Sherman from laying his pontoons until 
night, when we were relieved by the infantry and went 
back a few miles to take a little rest. 

It was just after we had crossed the burning bridge 
that (ieneral AVillianis returned to us and I happened to 
be present and hear "old Tap'' give (Ieneral Hampton a 
good "cussin' '' for the way he had treated us the last two 
days. 

General Wiliams expressed himself in characteristic 
language, which under ordinary circumstances would 
have subjected him to court-martial, but General Hamp- 
ton, appreciating his feeling spoke softly and tried to con- 
ciliate him and it passed oft' without further trouble, but 
General ^Villiams was so worked up in his feelings that 
he cried like a chiid. 

Early next morning we were hurried back to the 
front where we found that the Yankees had succeeded in 
getting a force across to our side. 

We made an eftort to drive them back, but as they 
had got their pontoon bridge across they rushed their 
men over and soon had a force too large for us to handle 
and keeping up a skirmish, we fell back gradually to Co- 
lumbia. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

AS I now remember, a rich and highly cultivated val- 
ley, about a mile wide, extended from the point 
where Sherman crossed the Congaree to the city and was 
from three to four miles long. We formed across this 
valley and skirmished with the enemy, gradually falling 
back until within halt a mile of Columbia where we met 
the mayor and city council with a flag of truce. The 
mayor requested us to retire and allow him to surrender 
the city and make terms with Sherman. 

We did so and withdrew our forces, taking the Winns- 
boro road, passing through Columbia on our retreat. 

This was about eleven o'clock in the morning, and 
as we passed through the city, we noticed that all doors 
were closed and the silence of death reigned. The city 
might have been depopulated, so far as any living evidence 
to the contrary was visible. It was the silence of the 
tomb. The citizens of Columbia anticipated some terri- 
ble misfortune and were not disappointed, for before the 
morning dawn of the next day their beautiful city was 
laid in ashes and they had experienced horrors which peu 
cannot portray. 

Our scout was left in the rear of the retreating col- 
umn and we were the last of our force to leave the city. 
The main body of our troops had left at least three hours 
before we did and after withdrawing from the city limits 
we scattered ourselves along the crest of the hill, where 




Lieut, J. P. Pierce. 



Enlisted in Col. Woodward's Second Kentucky Cavalry in July, 1864, and 
elected First Sergeant: promoted to First Lieutenant. Lieut. Pierce was taken 
sick in Trigg county. Ky , while in charge of a scouting party, and was captured 
in December, 1864, which ended his career as a soldier, as no prisoners were ex- 
changed after that date. 

He was Sheriff of Crittenden county, Ky., from 1878 to 1881, and County Judge 
of the same county from 1882 to 188.") ; has been engaged largely in merchandising, 
farmingand stock raising. Mr. Pierce is an active church worker and enjovs the 
esteem of all who know him. His present address is Marion, Ky. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



285 



we could watch the movements of the enemy and report 
to our men in the rear. 

When we left the city, the only eA^idence of fire was 
at the old freight depot about a half mile from the city 
limits — out in the woods — Avhere we noticed the smolder- 
ing remains of four freight cars, which had been fired 
for want of an engine to haul them away. 

As before stated, our scout — Lieutenant Hughes, the 
writer and six men — stopped on the top of the hill back 
of Columbia and from our station could observe every- 
thing that transpired in the city and valley. 

On meeting the mayor and council with the white flag, 
Sherman halted his army, and after a parley, of perhaps 
a half hour, one brigade of Yankees accomjjanied the 
mayor back to the city, and the rest of the army went into 
camp in the valley. 

Everything appeared, to us, to be quiet, and we saw 
no signs of anything unusual. We could see the Yankee 
troops, halted in the streets, resting on their arms, as if 
on an ordinary march, but no indication that the city was 
to be looted and burned. 

About four in the afternoon, a brigade of cavalry 
marched into the city and sent scouts out on the different 
roads, which necessitated a retreat on our part, and we 
went to camp, which we found some five miles away. 
Night had closed down and as the Yankees never moved 
— now— at night, we turned in with the boys for a rest. 

About eight o'clock, we began to notice a red glow in 
the western sky, which grew brighter and brighter, until 
the whole heavens were lit up and in our camp was as 
light as day. 

Instinctively we knew the cause and our indignation 
was only restrained from trying to visit vengeance on the 

19 



286 REMINISCENCES 

perpetrators by our lack of numbers, but when an old 
man, who escaped from the scene, came into camp and 
said, "the Yankees are burning everything" no one can 
imagine our chagrin on account of our helplessness. 

Sherman is dead now, and may God have mercy on 
his soul. A better kind of mercy than he extended to 
those who unfortunately lived on his route to '"The Sea'' 
and across the Carolinas. I would not detract from his 
fame as a great general, but, in the light of his achieve- 
ments, he was either a butcher or an imbecile. 

Public indignation was so great over the burning of 
Columbia that General Sherman felt called upon to ex- 
plain, and in doing so, attempted to lay the blame upon 
General Hampton and the citizens of Columbia, but after- 
ward admitted, that his men were so aroused that he 
could not control them. 

Twenty years ago, when this controversy was on, I 
felt like writing my knowledge of the event, but refrained, 
because at that time a Southern man was not to be heard 
or believed. But I write it now and "so help me heaven" 
it is true, and every Federal soldier who was at Columbia 
on the night of February 17, 1865, knows it's true. 

But for a concerted and determined effort to burn the 
city, it would have been an impossibility, as the houses, 
outside the business street, were built in the center of 
large park-like yards, where fire could not reach them, ex- 
cept in case of a very high wind, which did not blow that 
night, and everything was burnt, except a few cottages 
situated on the hillside and out of the city limits. They 
even fired the hospital which sheltered our wounded, and 
but for the action of a Captain Hawthorne (I think this 
is his name. I met him since the war and he gave me an 
account of it. I took his name, but unfortunately have 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 287 

lost it) of an Illinois regiment, who guarded the building 
with his company and kept the tires extinguished, all our 
wounded would have been cremated in the grand holo- 
caust. 

Captain Hawthorne's (or whatever his name) state- 
ment is not unsubstantiated, as I have since talked with 
two of our boys, who were nurses in the hospital at the 
time, and they told me that an Illinois captain with his 
company, had put out the lire four or five times and stood 
guard over the building with bayonets fixed. All honor 
to such men. While this captain was our enemy, we 
honor him, because we believe he was fighting, like we, for 
his convictions and scorned to make war on the defence- 
less or for personal gain. 

Falling back gradually, skirmishing all the while, w^e 
passed through Winnsboro, crossed the Catawba at Rocky 
Mound, gave them a little "twist" on the old Camden bat- 
tle ground, fought them at Edisto river at Great Pedee and 
Little Pedee, and all around over that ''settlement," fell 
back to Black river and concluded that was far enough. 
We were getting mad now, because the Yankees had been 
running wild, and had everything their own way, until 
we had got tired of it. They had been burning houses 
again, hanging old men and outraging women. Some of 
our boys ran upon five Yankees engaged in the latter oc- 
cupation, and they piled them up in the forks of the road 
and ''tagged" them. 

This raised Sherman's ire and he raised the black 
flag. It looked squally for a day or two, but General 
Hampton finally convinced Sherman that "that" wasn't 
fighting and everything was again serene. 

The correspondence over this little episode was con- 
ducted under flag of truce and I was on the flag. I con- 



288 REMINISCENCES 

• 

fess that I felt a little squally because they wanted the 
men who killed those fellows, and I was afraid they 
would think I was one of them. Now, I wasn't, but would 
have been five minutes later. As the old man would say, 
"I was knowin' to it." 

But matters are now coming to a crisis. General Lee 
is hemmed in at Richmond and cannot help us with the re- 
inforcements. General Hardee evacuated Charleston on 
the 17th, the day that Columbia fell, but we had not yet 
concluded to quit business. We gave the Yanks a test 
of our mettle at Mount Elon, and had a big and success- 
ful fight at Homesboro on March 4th, and Rockingham on 
the 7th, captured Kirkpatrick's camp by an early surprise 
on the 10th, with his artillery and equippage, and fought 
another successful battle the next morning early. For 
three days there was continual skirmishing and both ar- 
mies were feeling for position and getting ready for the 
battle that was evidently near at hand. 

To be exact about dates, the skirmishing began on 
the 18th of March, 1865, and the battle of Bentonville (the 
last of the war) was fought on the 19th. The attack was 
brought on by our brigade, which was on the front line, 
and, until later did not know that it had any support. 
General Johnston had been reinstated in command of the 
army, but we did not know it, and we thought that Gen- 
eral Hood, with his army, was still in Tennessee. Imag- 
ine our surprise, when falling back before Sherman's su- 
perior force, we ran into our own weatherbeaten gra}- 
backs. On they came, but they struck a snag. With all 
the hardships of the Tennessee campaign, the boys had 
not forgot how to yell and how to shoot. 

All day long, the battle raged and at night we had 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 289 

driven them back across the swamp and into their in- 
trenchments, where we kept them till Appomattox. 

After Bentonville, we camped for about two weeks 
near Smithfield, K. C, and took the first rest we had en- 
joyed for nearly a year. Sherman remained quiet in his 
camp and there were no scouts or skirmishes. 

General Williams wanted to know^ what was going 
on in the Yankee camp and ordered me to take four men 
and find out. 

Selecting four of the best men from our '"scout" and 
going afoot, we arrived in sight of the Yankee pickets a 
little before sundown. Hiding in the thick under- 
brush, we waited until night, and the enemy had retired 
to rest. Secreting our rifles and agreeing on time and 
place of rendezvous, we separated and each man stole 
quietly through Sherman's lines and all night long 
prowled through his camp. Everything was quiet and 
peaceful — as our presence was not suspected — and there 
was little danger of detection. The temptation to prowl 
the Yankees was so great that I had to steal a pistol from 
an olficer and would have taken his sword, but it was part- 
ly under his blanket and I was afraid to risk removing it; 
had no use for it anyhow, and 1 found on reassembling 
next morning that all the rest of the boys had the same 
kind of trophy as I, in proof of their success in the prowl- 
ing line. 

Some of the boys were a little late in getting back, 
which caused us some uneasiness, but they all finally 
showed up and we started to camp. We had got to a 
safe distance, as we supposed, and had grown a little care- 
less, when we were suddenly brought to a realization of 
our danger by hearing voices ahead of us. Thinking it 
might be a Yankee scout we took to the bushes and waited 



290 REMINISCENCES 

developments. Soon a squad of ten unarmed men came 
in sight around the bend in the road and we — seeing no 
danger from them — stepped out and arrested them. They 
proved to be North Carolinians and, as the spokesman of 
the party told us, on their way home. 

They claimed to have been captured at Fort Fisher 
and paroled. When we asked to see their paroles, they 
said they had destroyed them. This was suspicious and 
we arrested them as deserters. 

As we could not reach camp that day, we decided to 
camp in a cabin which we discovered in the pine woods, 
and go to camp next morning. ^Ye put the prisoners in 
the cabin, placed guards around it and were preparing for 
the night's vigil — we had nothing to eat and supper 
didn't trouble us— when just about sunset we heard the 
strokes of an ax which seemed to be about half a mile 
away. We knew^ the sound did not proceed from the 
Yankee camp and paid no attention to it, but one of our 
captives recognized the sound and it made him very rest- 
less. 

Perhaps, I can best describe his actions by giving the 
conversation that occurred between us: "Mister" said 
he, '^do you hear that ax?" "Yes," said T, "what of it?" 
"Mister! that is my wife chopping wood to cook supper 
for 'her' and my three little girls. I followed 'Btonewall' 
from Bull Run to Ohancellorsville, have fought the 
'Y''anks' all around Richmond, was at Gettysburg and all 
through the Maryland and Pennsylvania campaign and 
have tried to do my dut}'. 1 have not 'seed' my wife and 
little ones for three years, am in a half mile of them, 
can't you let me go?" 

His statement was corroborated by all his comrades, 
but I told him, "No; let General Williams pass on your 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER 29 1 

case." Better for me bad I let him go as the sequel 
proved. Arriving at camp next morning, I took the old 
man to General Williams' quarters, where he told his tale 
of the night before. I noticed that, as he proceeded, the 
General became more and more interested and even be- 
fore he had finished, the tears were streaming down the 
General's cheeks. "Go home, sir, go home." said the Gen- 
eral. "If the Confederacy had enough such men and wo- 
men as you and your wife, we would not be in the fix we 
are in." And ttii'ning to me he said, "What did you arrest 
this man for?" "Desertion," said I. "Deserter h— 1," said 
he, "I wish we had a hundred thousand more of the same 
kind,'' and he turned the whole gang loose. 

That settled it and the General soon got friendly witji 
me again and as far as heard from, we are on the same 
terms yet. 

Just now. General Lee surrendered at Appamattox 
and our cause was lost, but President Davis hoped to 
transfer headquarters West of the Mississippi river and 
there make another etfort to save the day. Our brigade 
was complimented by being selected as the President's 
escort and met him and his cabinet at Greensboro, N. C. 
We made all the haste possible, but owing to circum- 
stances, did not get along very fast. General McCook 
was trying to head us otf on the North and General Stone- 
man on the South and we had to run the gauntlet. We 
skirmished right and left and kept the "dogs off," as it 
were, until we reached Savannah river, which we crossed 
about five miles from Washington, Ga. Here the news 
reached us of Johnston's surrender, and that we were in- 
cluded. 

We also found that General Wilson with his cavalry 



292 REMINISCENCES 

corps, was in front of us and that we were completely sur- 
rounded by an oyer^v helming force. 

Recognizing the futility of a further attempt to es- 
cape with any considerable number of men, President 
Dayis decided to diyide the contents of the Treasury with 
the men who were with him and make an attempt to get 
out of the country. He failed, as all know. 

On the morning of May 7th, 1865, T was ordered to re- 
port to Secretary Trenholm, who was stopping at the 
house of the ferryman. On presenting myself and my cre- 
dentials, I was handed a little cotton bag — sealed — which 
I was ordered to turn oyer to the captain of our company. 

On breaking the seal, the Captain found a pay roll, 
allotting officers and men the same amount, without dis- 
tinction of rank, and we were all handed |26.40 in gold 
and silyer. 

There has been much written about the buried ''Con- 
federate treasure," but this is all "moonshine." We got 
all the money there was in the treasury and the only won- 
der is that we got to keep it. The Yankees didn't know 
we had it or they would haxe prowled us sure. 

And then, I haye read an article purporting to giye 
an account of a night raid on the Confederate Treasury 
wagons near Abbeyille, S. C, and the looting of the same 
by a detachment of our cayalry. This is all a fabrica- 
tion made out of whole cloth, as hundreds of our brigade 
can testify. We got all the money there was in these 
wagons and we got it "honest." 

We knew it was there all the time and guarded it, and 
nobody ever got near it but we never stole any of it either 
— but we got it. 

But to go back a little in this narratiye, as before 
stated, we met President Davis*and his Cabinet Officecs 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 293 

at Greensboro, N. C and escorted them as far as Wash- 
ington, Ga., passing through Salisbury, Charlotte, Abbe- 
ville and other towns of less note. 

It was at Charlotte that Mr. Davis received the tele- 
gram announcing the assassination of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. 
Davis was just about to enter the hotel door, when a 
courier dashed up with the despatch and it was passed 
to him over the heads of the crowd of men in the front 
yard. 

I was standing just inside the hall door, and when the 
President opened and read the dispatch, I noticed that he 
was greatly atfected by it. Turning to Mr. Reagan, who 
was by his side, he handed him the paper with the re- 
mark, ^'This is very unfortunate, read it to the men." 
When Mr. Reagan had read it aloud, a solemn stillness, ap- 
proaching awe, settled over the crowd for several minutes, 
when the terrible deed was discussed in whispers among 
the men. 

All looked on the deed as an outrage and a calamity. 
While we had fought against the ideas upheld by Mr. Lin- 
coln, none held him personally responsible, and although 
we differed with him in principle we respected him as a 
patriot from his standpoint and honest in his convictions. 

We had long since learned that he was not to blame 
for the horrors of the war, but the passive agent of a lot 
of ambitious and avaricious men, who had gained control 
and used him as an instrument to further their ambition. 
The same men tried this on General Grant after the war, 
but found him made of sterner stuff. 

Right here I did the only horse trading I ever had 
or ever have done, and after they read of it, I will ask 
my readers, if they think I made it pay. I swapped my 
gray mule to an old citizen near Abbeville, for a mustang 



2Q4 REMINISCENCES 

pony and the ponv for a three year old roan colt with four 
white feet and glass eyes. I expected to ride home and as 
this kind of a horse was entitled to free ferriage and I had 
several rivers to cross, the saving would be considerable. 
But a young man, riding a very fine seventeen hand mule, 
took a fancy to my horse and we traded. I sold out, mule, 
saddle and bridle to a Georgia farmer for fifteen dollars 
in gold, and started out to walk home with forty-one dol- 
lars and forty cents in my pocket. This was more money 
than I had seen for three years and 1 felt rich. Had I 
met Jay Gould, Vanderbilt or any of our big rich men at 
that time, I doubt if I should have spoken to them, except 
as a mere condescension. But I walked into Washington 
and into the Provost Marshal's office — there were two of 
them, both Jews, Asahel Mann and Lot Abraham. I went 
to Mann's office — and got my parole, went down to the 
depot, jumped on a freight train and rode to Atlanta.. 
Got to Atlanta about midnight and went to the Kimball 
House, the only one left in town, got breakfast, paid a 
round silver (Mexican) dollar for it, and at ten o'clock, 
started out with six others, to walk to Dalton or home» 
as necessity required. 

You see, about this time we were not choice as to our 
accommodations and accommodated ourselves to circum- 
stances. If we had a chance to ride we rode, if not. "be 
jabbers' we walked. 

We had done all we could and had our heads turned 
toward home and nothing could stop or turn us. It was- 
home or "bust" like the Pike's Peakers. 

By the terms of surrender, cavalrymen were allowed 
to retain their horses and side arms and all men without 
horses were to be furnished transportation to their respec- 
tive states. To those traveling through the country, arms 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 295 

were indispensable for protection against the bushwhack- 
ers who infested the ronte and it was also unsafe for us 
to travel except in sufficient numbers together to protect 

ourselves. 

Organizing a party of six and eating our dollar break- 
fast, we started out to walk to Dalton (101 miles) the rail- 
road having been destroyed to that point. We were un- 
able to draw any rations and left Atlanta at ten a. m. to 
walk this hundred miles with nothing to depend on but 
our dollar breakfast under our belts and no prospect of 
adding to it before we reached the end of our tramp.* This 
may seem a gloojny outlook, but we had practiced starving 
for so long that it did not discourage us. AYe depended 
on some streak of good luck to pull us through and it 
did. We weie fresh and made the twenty-two miles to 
Marietta by 1 p. m. 

There were only a few small cottages left of the once 
handsome town and they were occupied by some women 
and children who drew rations from Uncle Sam. I went 
prospecting for -grub'' and made myself so agreeable to 
one of the women that she baked us a corn pone apiece 
out of the meal she had saved. 

An idea of the character and size of this ration can 
be formed from a description. Made of kiln dried army 
meal with cold water and no salt, baked in an eight-inch 
skillet or "spider," two to the spider, until the top of the 
pones cracked open in nice squares, resembling a diminu- 
tive map of the earth, showing the parallels of latitude 
and longitude and at which point the mass is supposed.to 
be hot through and "done'' and there you have it. Meat 
of any kind was out of the question, but we were glad to 
get the bread; such as it was it "beat nothin'.*' 

With a corn "pone" in each of our haversacks we pro- 



296 REMINISCENCES 

ceeded on our joiiiney and walked out to Big Shanty, 
where we camped and started out next morning by day- 
break, eating our breakfast as we went. We had discov- 
ered the night before that we had been going the ^'pace 
that kills" and must move more slowly, if we expected to 
reach our destination. I was chosen leader and set the 
pace the rest of the way. I divided the march into relays 
of six miles and an hour and a half to each relay, giving 
a rest of fifteen minutes at latter end of each. The boys 
all stood this arrangement well except Al Smith of the 
Ninth. 

He was tall and heavy, his boots had high heels and 
fit him a little "too quick" and he was soon, after leaving 
Big Shanty, walking like a frost-bitten chicken. 

I wore a pair of English army shoes — prowled at 
Greensboro. I didn't steal them, just prowled them — 
which were very comfortable. In order to help Al along 
I exchanged with him and an hour after I was as badly 
crippled as he. The boots were too short for me and on 
a down hill pull infiicted indescribable torture. It 
seemed inevitable that our whole expedition was to be 
wrecked by Al. Smith's boots and we stopped to hold a 
parley and devise ways and means to save at least enough 
of the party to carry the news home, when our usual good 
luck came to the rescue and we were saved. 

An old citizen from near Chattanooga came driving 
up and we proceeded to interview him. We learned that 
he was returning from the sea coast where he had been 
after salt. 

He drove an old crooked-legged mule and a little ''flea 
bitten" gray pony to a ramshackle wagon tied together 
with withes and bits of hoop iron, and his load consisted 
of himself, three bags of salt and about a dozen bundles of 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 297 

fodder. A less iinitiiii* <oiiveyaiiee for a long ride could 
hardly be imagined, but we were not in condition to be 
squeamish and made the best of circumstances. With 
the aid of our Kentucky eloquence, supplemented by a 
ten dollar gold piece, we at last prevailed on him to haul 
Al. to Dalton on condition that Al. should walk up all 
the bad hills. This was a necessary proviso as the team 
was very light and Al. on the other extreme. 

We five again took up our line of march, but had not 
gone very far before we began to grow uneasy about Al. 
The old "cit" had insisted on pay in advance and Smith 
had imprudently exposed his ''pile" when paying him. 
This coupled with the fact that the old fellow told us he 
would take a different road from the one w^e were on — it 
being more level — made us suspicious and we feared foul 
play. But we finally concluded that Al. had his two pis- 
tols and had been through so many close places he w^ould 
look out for himself, and pushed on. But I need not tell 
you that we felt good when about ten o'clock the second 
night a wagon drew^ up near our camp, a mile out from 
Dalton, and Al. Smith's voice hailed us with, "What com- 
mand do you belong to?" AVe soon had him and the old 
man out of the wagon, the horses watered and fed, and 
in a few minutes were sitting around a bright fire reveling 
on broiled ham and hard tack and enjoying a feast, from 
our standpoint, fit for the Gods. 

^^But where did you get these good things?" says some 
one. ^^Now, we have caught you in a lie, because you 
have done said that you had nothing to eat but some cold 
corn bread." 

Yes! but let me tell you something. We had walked 
along eating our corn ''pone," a pinch now and then, fol- 
lowed by a refreshing drink of water from one of the de- 



298 REMINISCENCES 

licious springs found ail over Norfh Georgia and East 
Tennessee, and when we felt hungry we buckled our belts 
a little tighter. The constant pinching on the "pone" 
and natural abrasion, by the end of the tirst day, reduced 
our bread to crumbs. This did not make much difference 
as it saved chewdng and we got the nourishment. We 
only had to take out a handful of crumbs, open our 
mouths pretty wide, pour the crumbs down our throats 
and our stomachs did the rest. Of course w^e drank at 
the next branch, always. By this arrangement w^e used a 
large amount of water, which was not strictly in keeping 
with the Kentucky idea, but it w^as the thickest drink we 
could get and we had to take it. 

Now, about that ham and E^crackers. AYhen with- 
in about two miles of Dalton, our party met a Federal cav- 
alry company. The captain halted us and asked whom 
we were. 

Being spokesman for our party, I stepped forward 
and replied: 

"Members of Williams' Kentucky cavalry on our way 
home." 

''Have you paroles?" asked the captain. 

We exhibited our paroles and at the same time gave 
him to understand that we were hungry and would like 
to know if we could get something to eat w^hen we got to 
town. 

"No," said he, "rations are issued at nine in the morn- 
ing, and your names will have to be reported, or you will 
be left out. But I think I can arrange it for you to have 
your supper anyw^ay." 

Turning to his men, he said: "Boys, these men are 
hungry. We have three days' rations with us for a two 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 299 

days' trip. Let's divide with them. Some of you give 
them bread and some meat. Open. Order. March." 

They ojK'ned iij) the column, we marched down the 
ranks and received their contributions as long as we had 
any place to store them and declined the balance with 
thanks. The Captain advised us to camp at a spring of 
water near by, which we did and went into town the next 
morning. 

I am glad to record the kindness of this Captain and 
his command. While numerous instances of this kind 
occurred during our war, they were always unexpected, 
and I am proud to believe would be impossible in any 
other country. All honor to this captain and his men. I 
am very sorry that I lost the memorandum I had of his 
name and command. 

We went into Dalton next morning and found that 
the train would leave for Chattanooga in a half hour. 
Anxious to get home we made no attempt to draw 
"rations," but went to the Provost Marshal for transpor 
tation. Examining our paroles he kindly gave us a ticket 
to Chattanooga, which was the limit of his jurisdiction. 

We took the train, arrived in Chattanooga about elev- 
en a. m., and rei)orled to the Provost Marshal, who acted 
like he was in control of the United States government, 
and a very mean man. \Mien we exhibited our paroles, 
he very promptly hung them on his tile, called a squad of 
soldiers and oi'dered them to take us to prison. They 
very kindly relieved us of oui* pistols and in spite of our 
remonstrance marched us off to the "bull pen." 

Our paroles wert- afterwnds returned to us, but (hey 
kept our pistols as trophies of the great victory the -Pro- 
vost Marshal had won over our large force of six. 

We had received universal kind treatment since our 



300 REMINISCENCES 

surrender until now and it was eas}^ for us to decide that 
this P. M. had not done any dut}^ on the field, but now, 
having the power, was determined to end the war. Grant 
and Sherman, from his point of view, were failures and 
what they had failed to do in four years he would do in a 
da} . If now living, I have uo doubt he is claiming all the 
credit for having conquered the South and boasts of this 
capture of our squad as the culmination of his great feat. 

When our mounted men arrived at Chattanooga this 
same P. M. refused to respect the terms of surrender and 
dismounted and disarmed them. When General Williams 
arrived later and found this out, he went to headquarters 
and read "the riot act"' to the P. M. with such effect as to 
get an order for the return of the horses and equipments. 
Going with the boys to the government lot where there 
was a large number of horses and mules, the general told 
them to go in and "If you come out worse mounted than 
you was before, it will be your own fault." Most of the 
boys stuck to their old horses that had shared their past 
trials and dangers, but jnany of them came out with 
better mounts than they had ever possesed. The General 
did not know^ that we w^ere in prison or he would have had 
us out, too. 

Our foot squad stayed in prison and reveled in good(?) 
grub for three days. Our rations consisted of three army 
crackers and a piece of raw codfish of the size of a cracker 
issued to us each morning. We had nothing to cook and 
no fire to cook it on, but there was a good well of water 
in the prison and fortunately the supply was not limited 
and by punching more holes in our belts and by drawing 
them tighter every day, we managed to hold out for three 
days, when they decided to send us on. 

This was our most annoying experience. We had our 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. ^01 

^'heads set" for home, had the right to go on and to be de- 
tained by a little shoulder-strapped ujistart who never 
smelt powder was very aggravating 1 can assure you ; but 
we lived through it and after we got started on our way 
again, soon forgot it. 

Such is a soldier's life. He takes his chances and 
makes the most of his experiences. Enjoying his victor- 
ies, he soon forgets defeat and is ready for another trial. 

It may seem strange that General Williams could 
keep his men out of prison and I should fail with mine, as 
w^e were both subject to the same conditions under the 
terms of surrender, but I think I can explain. 

General Williams was a general and "ranked" the 
Provost Marshal, who was a captain, and they both 
"ranked" me, who could only sport three "chevrons." The 
general weighed 320 pounds, while I only weighed 204, 
which gave him the weight over me. The P. M., backed 
by his bayonets, also outranked me; so that w^ eight and 
the argument(?) were against me. Then the General had 
a more effective way of "cussin" than 1. He had been in 
the Mexican war and practiced on the "greasers," while 
I had only four years' experimenting on Yankees, and 
you know experience counts in all business. 

It would have afforded me immense satisfaction to 
have had that P. M. off to himself for about two minutes. 
I would have fixed him up in such a shape that his mother 
would not have known him, but discretion said "no," and I 
didn't invite him out. Perhaps it was best. He might 
have died and I would have always felt bad about it. 

But, maybe, you think I didn't "cuss" him. Yes, I 
did. After we were turned into the pen and the gates 
closed, I turned loose on that P. M. and created a perfect 
blue sulphurous halo around him. Fortunately, he was 
in his office down town and didn't hear it. 

20 




CHAPTER XX. 

IN the forenoon of the fourth day of our imprisonment, 
the gate was thrown open and we requested to aban- 
don the premises. As none of us were particularly at- 
tached to the place there was no ''kicking,'' and we did 
not wait for the invitation to be repeated. As we were 
not incumbered with baggage, it did not take us long to 
get a move on us. 

As we passed out of the gate each man was handed 
his parole and a transportation ticket to Nashville. To 
show the difference in men, I will relate our experience 
at the gate. 

The officer in charge had an empty sleeve, showing 
that he had "been there," and he proved himself a good 
judge of human nature and a noble man. 

He made us a little talk after we had assembled and I 
will endeavor to repeat his words as I have never forgot- 
ten the impression he left on my mind and he was the first 
man from the North to sound the keynote of reconcilia- 
tion. 

"Men," said he, "I have here the parole of every man 
who is entitled to one. 

"There are some who hjnenot been paroled and they 
will try to claim that belonging to another in order to es- 
cape. In order to do justice I shall require every one 
claiming, to identify himself by at least three of his com- 
rades. Everv man here is entitled to what he has hon- 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. ,^3 

estly earned. While you were wrong from my stand- 
point, you have proven yourselves brave men and as such 
deserve the respect of all other brave men and whatever 
is your due. 

•'Exercise a little patience and I will try to do you all 
justice." 

I noticed that a rough looking gang — sporting extra 
long hair and big spurs — which had taken the head of the 
column, began to disperse and knew at once that the old 
Yankee Captain had them "spotted" when he made his 
remarks. 

As we passed out of the prison an orderly handed us 
our paroles and tickets and the Captain shook hands with 
us and gave each a word of encouragement as we passed. 
Somehow, I can't help but like that kind of a man, if he 
was a Yankee soldier, and wherever he is now, living or 
dead, may he be enjoying the happiness due to a noble 
christian manhood. 

I ask pardon for this long digression, but the contrast 
was so great between the Provost Marshal and the ''one 
arm'^ Captain that I could not help it. Brave men respect 
bravery, even in a foe, while a coward — with authority — 
is a tyrant. 

But we got out of prison and made our way to the 
railroad and "piled" into a lot of box and stock cars pro- 
vided for our trip to Nashville and pulled out at 4 p. m. 
There were eight hundred of us and our train consisted 
of an engine and twelve cars. So it is easy to understand 
that we were loaded inside and out. 

As the inside was crowded I took a top berth. Soon 
after leaving Chattanooga a very angry cloud made its ap- 
pearance over Waldron's Ridge and one of the worst rain- 
storms that I ever witnessed burst upon us. I w as on top 



304 REMINISCENCES 

of a car and, of course, got wet, but cared nothing for it 
as I was accustomed to it and, then, 1 was going home. 
We were running down the Tennessee river valley be- 
tween high mountains and the night was "pitch" dark 
only relieved by occasional flashes of lightning which add- 
ed to the weirdness of the trip. 

Just before daylight the engineer whistled "down 
brakes" and we came to a standstill. Investigation 
showed our engine standing with the cowcatcher hanging 
over an abyss of raging water, where a trestle a hundred 
feet long had been washed away. Fortunately, the Yan- 
kees still retained guards at all railroad bridges, or we 
would have gone into this washout and no one can tell 
what would have been the consequence. Lucky again. 

We backed up to a sidetrack, a wrecking train came 
down from the city and by ten next morning we were 
again on our way. After crossing the Tennessee at 
Bridgeport and when we started up the mountain our en- 
gine gave out. We had no "Moguls" then, our train was 
heavy and the track was slick, so we dismounted and 
helped the train up to the tunnel where we boarded it 
again and went on to Nashville, where we arrived about 
bed-time, were sidetracked and left to make ourselves as 
comfortable as circumstances would allow and slept until 
late the next morning. We were aroused by a Colonel 
w^lth a regiment of ' 'blue coats, " who marched us to head- 
quarters. We supposed that we would be furnished 
"transportation" home and went along rather joyfully. 

But a new surprise was in store for us. Arriving at 
headquarters, we were marched four at a time, into the 
august presence of the Major — in charge. 

He informed us that we must take the oath of alle- 
giance, "the first thing." Well, they had it on us and we 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDI^. 305 

couldn't help ouiselves. So we stepped under their 
measuring machine and on their weighing machine. A 
cross-eyed clerk took the color of our eyes and hair (look- 
ing at somebody else out of his good eye all the time) and 
we signed the oath, because we were in a hurry to get 
home. But this did not satisfy the Major. He wanted us 
to swear to it and ordered his Sergeant, who was a Dutch- 
man to take us out on the street and swear us. The 
Dutchman — or Sergeant — knew how to form us in line, 
but he hadn't been long enough in this country to learn 
to read English as "she is writ" hence the Dutchman got 
a little confused. 

Forming us in line, two ranks on the street, his first 
order was : 

"Addenchun, repels. Holt oup your hands unt pe 
schwordt." 

To better convey the idea and show how ridiculous 
the farce was, I will give you the proceedings as they oc- 
curred. 

"Now, you tam repels listen," said he, "I am goin' to 
scwar you. Hol't up your recht handt." 

We all "held up" and he began to read the oath: "I 
— rebeat your names," said he. "Effery feller got to call 
his name oudt. — Veil, I — too — sollemnly — swear — dat — 
I — vill — defent — de — gonstitution — off." About now we 
got tired and at the same time his reading ran out and he 
had to turn over a leaf. Lifting his eyes, he saw us with 
all hands down and it made him furious. Of course we 
couldn't hold our hands up until a Dutchman read that 
oath through and we wasn't going to do it. 

After making three trials, our Dutch Sergeant gave 
up the job and told us to go. He called up a company of 
infantry with fixed bavonets and swore he would have us 



3o6 



REMINISCENCES 



run through if we didn't keep our hands "oup," but they 
had seen service in the fieUl and appreciated our feelings. 
They joined in with us in a big laugh at the Dutchman's 
expense and this settled the business. 

The irony of this affair was, that a "flannel mouth'- 
Dutchman, who could neither speak or read good ''United 
States," was chosen to administer the oath of allegiance 
to American citizens. 

On a vacant lot near headquarters, five or six Jews 
had set up lemonade stands and as we passed they rushed 
out at us crying, "Ice lemonade; five cents a glass'' and 
kept up a terrible din. 

We all felt a little devilish and did not care much for 
consequences. One of our boys, a six footer weighing 
o^^er two hundred, who was in front of us, called a halt 
and made a little speech. "Boys," said he, "we are about 
to separate, perhaps, never to meet again. Thanks to Jeff 
Davis, I have the means to 'set 'em up' at the price. I 
want you all to join me in a pledge of eternal friendship 
and this is a good opportunity. Come up and call for 
what you want." 

The Jews were happy, and we all took lemonade 
The glasses being small, our leader ordered them refilled. 
After draining them we started off, our leader in the lead 
and the Jews rushed at him demanding pay. He tried to 
reason with tliem, but'only made them more importunate. 
They pulled at him and "cussed' him in Dutch until he 
could staud it no longer and grabbing one of them by the 
shoulders, he gave him a swing, knocked down two of his 
companions and pitched him o^ er on to his stand utterly 
demolishing it. You ought to have seen Jews gather up 
their traps and run. We were near a regiment of Federal 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER 307 

soldiers and they enjo^^ed the fun as much as we; and we 
had no trouble over it. 

We went up to the Capitol grounds where it was 
shady and quiet and there had our leave-taking. The oc- 
casion was pathetic beyond description. Strong men, 
who, but a few minutes before, were full of fun and dev- 
iltry, wept as if their hearts would break; and each one 
registered a vow in heaven to be true to his comrade and 
his cause. How well that vow has been kept, let the his- 
tory of the last thirty years bear witness. 

We separated; each going liis way. Never all to 
meet again until we assemble at the last "great tat-too.'' 

Louis Wall had stuck to me like a brother since our 
night adventure with Sherman's army in South Carolina 
and being unable to dispose of his mule at Washington, 
left him and came along with me. ^Ve were the only boys 
from Union County and at the separation were left to our- 
selves. We went up in the city and bought some clean 
clothes. Expecting to obtain transportation home, 
Louis invested all his money and if I had not had my 
"mule money'' extra I would have been in the same fix.'' 

W^e went to the Provost Marshal's office to get our 
ticket home, presented our credentials to a little upstart 
of a Sergeant, who seemed to be in charge, and who exam- 
ined them carefully, stepped over to a map hanging on the 
wall and after running his pen staff around over the map 
a few minutes, came over to us, handed us back our papers 
with the remark : ''It ain't very far home, you fellows can 
walk." 

"But," said I, "Sergeant, we are entitled to transporta- 
tion by the terms of surrender." 

''You can walk, ] say," said he, "and you had better 
beat it quick." 



3o8 



REMINISCENCES 



Whoop! but how I wanted to wl-ing his neck I But 
he had a lot of soldiers, with sharp pointed guns, around 
him and we had to "walk," so we walked down to the river 
and found the steamer Silver Spray preparing to leave for 
Cincinnati and engaged passage to Caseyville at six dol- 
lars apiece. 1 paid for both and found that my bank ac- 
count was nearly exhausted, but this caused but little 
trouble, as I was on my last relay for home. 

Before we got away from Nashville there were six 
liundred men aboard and the little boat was crowded al- 
most to suffocation. Owing to the obstructions in Cum- 
berland river, our progress was very slow and our sup- 
plies ran a little short, but the Captain did all he could 
to make us comfortable. About o'clock on the second 
night out, we landed to take coal at Brown's landing on 
the Ohio river. 

Old Dick McConnel had charge of the coal yard. He 
came aboard and recognized me and began to tell me a 
most horrible yarn of six returned Confederates being 
shot down and that all Confederate soldiers coming back 
would be treated the same way. He offered to board 
Louis and me until things settled down. When he pro- 
posed this, I saw through his scheme and felt greatly re- 
lieved. 

Dick was after a board bill and his tale was a lie made 
of whole cloth as T suspected and afterwards learned to be 
true. 

The Captain heard Dick's story and put more faith in 
it than 1 and grew very uneasy. He wanted us to stay on 
the boat until it was safe for us to return home. 

His words were: '^I don't want you to be murdered, 
stay with me until you can go home in safety and it won't 
cost you a cent." 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 3^9 

I thauked liiui and told biui that I fully appreciated 
liis kindness, but that I was in no danger with my neigh- 
bors and would go home. The river was very high and 
the boat could not land at Oaseyville. so we got olf at Bat- 
tery Rock, 111. After landing us and backing out, the 
Captain had the engines stopped when abreast of us and 
offered to land if we would come aboard, but we declined 
with thanks. 

I saw the Captain at Oaseyville a few weeks after 
a,nd when he saw me safe and sound, had I been his 
own son, I don't see how he could have shown more joy. 
1 am sorry that T cannot recall his name, but he w^as a 
fine old Christain gentleman. One of the kind to show 
his faith by his work. 

Climbing the hill at Battery Rock Louis and I ran 
upon a cabin where the young folks were having a party. 

As we neared the house I discovered a couple seated 
on a rustic seat outside, and, approaching, inquiued for 
the ferryman. 

The young man replied that he was half a mile away 
and asleep. 

My late experience had made my ears pretty sharp 
and I detected something familiar in the man's voice. 
Calling him to ''one side" I soon discovered that I was 
talking to Sam Penrod. 

Now Sam had enlisted in the infantry at Camp Boone, 
was at Fort Donelson and when he w^as exchanged, con- 
cluded he had enough and quit and was now working in 
the coal mine at Battery Rock. It did not take long to 
make myself known to Sam and enlist his sympathy. He 
took his girl to the house and came back with two pairs 
of oars and we were soon across the river. 

I gave Sam all the money 1 had, except thirty-five 



310 REMINISCENCES 

cents, Avhicb 1 kept for luck, and L'ouis and I struck out 
for liome. We walked out to Mrs. Metcalfe's woodland 
pasture, two miles out, being tired and sleepy, spread our 
blankets down under a large tree and slept the sweet 
sleep of content. Awaking the next morning, I discov- 
ered that we were surrounded by a circle of fox hounds, 
sitting solemnly around us like a coroner's jury over a 
"floater" and when I opened my eyes on the scene I won- 
dered if this was a new^ world or had I onh' been dreaming. 
Four years before I had hunted the festive fox behind 
these same hounds and while I remembered them I asked 
nnself the question, ''Will they know me?" 

Rising to a sitting posture, I called out "Dave," 
^'Kate," "Rattler," "Bill," "Spanker!" Before I could 
get through the list, with a howl, they all rushed on me, 
over me, licking my face and hands and by every other 
iieans known to a dog expressing their delight. They 
knew me and were glad to see me and you know\ my read- 
ers, that although their welcome was rough I enjoyed it 
because I knew it was genuine. Louis was asleep and not 
prepared for the demonstration. He jumped up and ran 
a few steps, but when he saw the dogs on me and thought 
that I was being torn to pieces he grabbed a fence stake 
and came to the rescue; and had I not been able to get up 
and stop him, some, or probably all of my dog friends 
would have gotten hurt. 

Rolling up our blankets we went up to the house fol- 
lowed by the hounds, and when I knocked the door was 
opened by Mrs. Metcalfe. 

On recognizing me the good old lady threw up her 
hands and said, "thank God, I see you once more." She 
flew around and soon had everything on the place in to see 
us — negroes and all. So far we had found nothing to kill 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



311 



US, and took heart to go on. After eatinj; a ^ood break- 
fast, we strnck out for home. 

Except the danger, our trip was almost as slow as the 
Dalton-Atlanta campaign. Every one we met demanded 
a history of our experience. At last, in sheer desperation, 
we left the road — "took to the woods" — and I got home in 
time for dinner. Ky some means they had heard that I 
was coming and my old black "mammy" — God bless her — 
had "spread herself." Had I eaten to her satisfaction I 
would not be here now to tell of it. 

Hut don't think I failed to do justice to the subject — 
(), no. I had liyed on half rations, quarter rations, noth- 
ing and less until there was a good big storage room un- 
der my belt, and as this was the first chance I had had to 
fill it, I used it. 

But the home coming. How pleasant and yet how 
sad. Althougli mother's greeting is as warm as heart 
could wish, we see the lines of care and anxiety pictured 
on the loyed countenance and realize that we haye caused 
it, and at the same time she says, "God bless you, my son, 
I am proud of you." The mothers of the world haye been 
the sufferers while their sons haye been the heroes. The 
one suffers in silence while the other wins his fame. And 
the stern old father whose honor is at stake, proud of his 
ancestry and yet too old to take active part. His wel- 
come home to the wanderer is worth all the cost. 

How many Kentuckians of the Confederate army 
there are who can realize the picture. Kentucky honor 
was involved, and a true Kentuckian holds honor above 
every other consideration. For this reason Kentucky 
troojjs have always been famous for their devotion to 
duty. In the late war Kentuckians, on both sides of the 



3 1 2 REMINISCENCES 

Hue, proved themselves the ''true gril;.*- This is the fault 
of their "raisin' " and thej^ can't help it, you know. 

We will soon all cross the dark river and the world 
will soon forget us (individually) in its great rush, but our 
deeds will be perpetuated in living fire. The heroic deeds 
of the American soldier will be a theme for history, ro- 
mance and song as long as the world exists. Like the 
struggle of William Tell for freedom for Switzerland, and 
like Banquo's ghost, the gallant deeds of men and noble 
deeds of women in our late struggle, "will not down." 

What has been written in "Reminiscences" has been 
the truth so far as my memory serves me, and is indorsed 
by numbers now^ living who were present and participated 
in the occurrences recorded. 

I have attempted to give events as they transpired 
and impressed me at the time. 

I have, also, tried to be fair with niy Yankee brother 
and give him all the credit he is entitled to. I have en- 
deavored to "set down nought in malice, nor in aught to 
extenuate." I have tried (conscientiously) to record 
"things" just as they occurred and as I saw them, and as 
many of my comrades yet living can identify. Tf I have 
erred in any statement that I have made, I am unconscious 
of it and the error was not intentional. I believe that my 
experience, in the main, was that of thousands of other 
Confederate soldiers and will be readily recognized by 
numbers who read these chapters. 

Young men gather around me of evenings and ask 
me to tell them of the war — they have learned how to 
draw me out — and one of them is sure to ask me if I 
would go to war again. My answer is, "There never will 
be cause for a civil war in this country, but should any 
foreign power undertake to 'bulldoze' us, no telling what 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



313 



might happen." Of course, I am too old now but I could 
stir the young fellows up and get them into it. As they 
have their "dad's" experience before them and every 
one thinks he is bigger than his ''dad," we would have the 
finest army in the world and whip the daylights out of 
anything that came before us. 

But let us pray for peace. War brings so much suf- 
fering to the women and children and is so costly in lives 
and money, that it is, taken all in all, an unprofitable in- 
vestment. 

A word now^ to the old soldiers: Thirty -three years 
have passed; — eventful for some of us — since the end of 
the greatest struggle recorded in any history. Looking 
backward to those stirring times we can see where mis- 
takes were made; opportunities lost and foolish acts per- 
formed, yet we can point with pride to the heroic deeds of 
the American soldier of the late civil war and coming on 
up to the present; to his still nobler acts in time of peace. 

The men of the North and the South disagreed as to 
public policy, failed to settle their differences peaceably; 
took up arms and fought to a finish. After the war was 
over these same men came together to form a new nation 
out of the wreck of the old and how well they succeeded 
all can see. 

The civil war cost us millions of treasure, oceans of 
blood and tears, untold sutfering and misery and the lives 
of thousands of our best men; yet it has been worth to our 
country all it cost. 

From a people divided on sectional lines as to policy, 
interest and ambition, we have emerged from the wreck 
of war and are now a united people, proud that we have 
the greatest country and grandest record of any nation 
on the globe. No contention exists among our people. 



314 REMINISCENCES 

^'except that noble contention, or rather eniuhition as to 
who can best work and best agree" for the good and the 
honor of our common heritage. 

Those who were the best soldiers, have proven them- 
selves the best citizens and having fought for the honor 
of their country have felt in duty bound to maintain it. 
But old age is creeping on us and it will be but a few short 
years till we shall all answer the last tattoo and be mus- 
tered out of service. Have we discharged our whole 
duty? Have we been as zealous as we should in inculcat- 
ing the principles we have so faithfully held sacred, into 
the coming generations? 

If we have not our work is not finished and our duty 
not done. We do not live for ourselves alone and all our 
work will have been for nought if we fail to instill those 
principles into the posterity for whom we are responsible. 

One of the greatest pleasures of the old soldier is to 
meet a comrade and together fight over the old battles 
and live over the scenes of the long ago. This is one ob- 
ject which impelled me to write these lines, and I com- 
mend them in unbounded love to my old comrades who 
w^ore the gray. You, my Yankee brother who have read 
these pages, I think I have found that those who faced you 
on so many bloody fields have nothing but the greatest re- 
gard and honest good will toward you; that the blue and 
gray have blended and stand shoulder to shoulder for the 
common good! One in pride, one in honor and one in 
love of country. 

To the younger generations of the North and the 
South I will say that no descendants of kings have a 
greater heritage of pride and honor than you, and it be- 
hooves you to look well to it and maintain the liberty, in- 
tegrity and honor of the common countrv. Y'ou have an 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 315 

ilhistiious exauiple in your ancestors and if yon would re- 
tain tlie freedom tbeir acts secured to you; remember 
that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." 

To all who may read these pages I have only words of 
love and good wishes. Feeling the weight of years 1 rec- 
ognize that it will not be long until the ''river must be 
crossed" and with all those who were factors in our great 
struggle I will be numbered with things and events of the 
past. 

In writing Reminiscences 1 have at all times tried to 
apply the ''Golden Rule.'' How well I have succeeded a 
generous reading public must decide. With a heart full 
of love for the old soldiers who did and dared on the field 
of battle, gratitude to God for His watchful care and pro- 
tection through all my rough and stormy life, a fervent 
prayer for the preservation, advancement, integrity and 
honor of our country and its institutions with all they rep- 
resent, and the warmest affection and good will toward all 
mankind I bid all an affectionate farewell. 



THE END. 



APPENDIX, 



MRS. BETTIE PHILLIPS. 

In previous chapters of Reminiscences, the writer has 
called attention to the noble and heroic character, forti- 
tude and determination of the women of the South ; their 
severe trials and their bravery in the face of danger; their 
loving hearts and kind ministrations to the unfortunate, 
the sick, the wounded, their care for the dead and their 
universal loyalty to the cause. 

What has been written has been of Southern women 
generally; but this history would be incomplete without 
a record of the life, adventures and experience of one noble 
woman who, for true heroism, perhaps, surpassed all oth- 
ers and whose memory is enshrined in the hearts of thou- 
sands of ex-Confederate soldiers, and especially those of 
the Kentucky "Orphan" brigade with whom she was iden- 
tified and who lovingly call her "mother." 

She was the daughter of Dr. Gibson B. and Mary 
(Rives) Taylor, and the offspring of an illustrious an- 
cestry, both branches of which had been active and 
honored factors in the early history of our republic and 
she inherited all the noblest traits of her progenitors. 

In early life she developed the traits of character, so 
pronounced in her mother; indomitable energy and per- 
severence, coupled with unbounded kindness and love for 
all and that noble christain attribute, charity for all man- 
kind. 

21 



3i8 REMINISCENCES 

She was married in 1849 to W. ?<. Phillips, a merchant 
at ShotwelTs mines and during her sojourn of several 
years at the mines the writer, then a boy, was often the 
recipient of her kindness and hospitality and a friend- 
ship was then formed which ended only with her death, 
and has ripened into veneration for her memory. 

. In 1861 her husband enlisted in the Confederate army 
and was elected to a Lieutenantcy in Co. C, Fourth Ken- 
tucky infantry, then forming at Camp Boone, Tenn. In 
September of this same year Mrs. Phillips joined her 
husband and from that time until the end in 1865 at Wash- 
ington, Ga., followed the fortunes of the regiment and the 
''Orphan" brigade, of which it formed a part, and the 
members of that brigade were her special care. 

Well do the survivors of the command remember her 
affectionate solicitude for her boys, as she termed us. 
How she would patch the ragged rents in our clothes, sew- 
on our buttons, bathe the fevered brows of the sick, bind 
up our wounds and comfort us in all our troubles. 

The arduous duties which she imposed on herself im- 
paired her health and after the battle of Murfreesboro, at 
the earnest desire of "her boys," she decided to return 
home. On arriving at Glasgow, Ky., she was arrested as 
a spy, searched and thrown into prison to await the decis- 
ion of her fate. She was banished by the Federal authori- 
ties and after being forced to submit to many indignities 
returned within our lines. 

This aroused her spirit and refusing to admit to her- 
self that she was an invalid, assumed her old place in 
camp and filled it till the surrender. Returning to her old 
home she took up home duties, where she had left off and 
was the same kind, loving, christian woman she had al- 
ways been. 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 3IQ 

But her arduous service and exposure in the South 
had sown the seeds of disease and while yet in the prime 
of life she was cut down by the fell destroyer, universally 
loved and deeply mourned by all who had known her. 
Mrs. Phillips died in 1874, and her death cast a deeper 
sorrow over the survivors of the old brigade than, per- 
haps, any other participant in the great war, but we who 
knew her best feel happy in the knowledge that she only 
closed her eyes on the trials here, to transfer her member- 
ship to the muster roll of the triumphant army of the 
Lord of Hosts. 



Roster of Company F- — G, First Kentucky Regiment 
of Cavalry C. S. A. 

COLONELS. 
BEN HARDIN HELM. J. RUS. BUTLER. 

CAPTAINS. 

J. J. BARNETT, J. W. GRIFFITH, 

JOHN L. HOAYELL. 

FIRST LIEUTENANTS. 
R. D. SPALDING, JOHN S. LAMAR. 

SECOND LIEUTENANTS. 

1^. H. WATHEN. SAMUEL G. HUGHES. 

THIRD LIEUTENANTS. 
F. B. BROWN, PRESTON LINDSEY. 



320 



REMINISCENCES 



Non-commissioned officers and privates: 



ADAMS. HENRY 
BATES, SAMUEL H. 
BLACKFORD, JOHN A. 
BELL, HUGH 
BARRETT, ALEX 
BRIGHT, JOHN 
BAILEY, AUGUSTUS 
BINGHAM, SILAS H. 
BAKER, WILLIAM 
BROWN, WILLIAM 
BERRY, WILLIAM 
BERRY, BENJAMIN 
BERRY, THOMAS 
BERRY, FRANCIS 
BLACKWELL, ROBERT 
BLAKE, STEPHEN 
BUCKMAN, JOHN N. 
BLAYLOCK, JOHN W. 
BALL, DEMETRIUS 
COLBERT, S. R. 
CHAPMAN, BEN. J. 
CUNNINGHAM, HENRY 
COLEMAN, PRES. B. 
CLEMENTS, JOHN T. . 
CISSELL, CHAS. N. 
CHRISTOPHER, MATT. 
CROMWELL, STEPHEN 
CUSIC, JAMES 
DE JARNETTE, BEN. F. 
DELANEY, GEO. T. 
DUPIN, JOHN 
DORSEY, ELI 
DYER, THOMAS M. 
DYER, JOHN W. 
DIAMOND, VAN 
DYE, JESSE B. 
ESTIS, ALLEN , 
ESTIS, ABNER 
ESTIS, WARREN 



EDDINGS, HIRAM 
FORD, ISAiVC 
FINNIE, DANIEL 
FRENCH, BEN. 
GEIGER, JAMES 
GARDINER, W. J. 
GOUGH, WILLIAM 
GREGG, GEORGE 
GRAINGER, ANDREW 
GANN, ELBERT 
HENRY, ALEX 
HENRY, WILLIAM 
HENRY, THOMAS 
HAMILTON, ALEX 
HOLLIFIELD, D. C. 
HEDGES, ROBERT 
HOARD, WILLIAM 
HARDIN, ALFRED 
HOWELL, HARRISON 
HOWELL, WALKER 
HAGER, HILLARY 
HAGER, AMBROSE 
»ITE, THOMAS 
HALL, WILLIAM 
HUGHES, WILLIAM H. 
IRELAND, THOMAS 
IRSKINE, JAMES 
IRBY, ISAAC 
JAMISON, MOSES 
JONES, MATT 
JOHNSON, BENJ. 
JONIGAN, J. R. 
KLINE. FRED 
LUCAS, SIDNEY 
LUCAS, CHARLES 
LOYAL, PETER 
LAWSON, GEORGE 
LEWIS, E. B. 
LLEWELLYN. ENOCH 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 32 1 

MITCHELL, WILLIAM RHAIT, CHAS. H. 

M-CUNE, DAVID RIGGS, JAMES 

MOBLEY, THOMAS F. KYLE, JOHN 

MOBLEY, GEORGE RITTER. WILLIAM 

MARTIN, LAFAYETTE RUTLIDGE, J. W. 

MAY, CHARLES STROWMAT, WILLIAM 

MAY, FRANK SULLIVAN, JOSEPH 

MILLS, FERDINAND STARKS, JOHN 

MILES, JAMES SMOOT, JOHN 

MONK, D. SPALDING, JOHN B. 

M'DONALD, J. SALE, THOMAS 

ME^rCALFE, COATES T. SCHONE, JOHN 
NESTLEHOOD, ANTHONY SKIPPING, J. W. 

NEWCOMBE, JAMES TERRELL, M. 

POOL, PHILANDER TONGET, THOMAS 

PINSON, L. T. THROCKMORTON, JAMES 

POE, CHARLES TULL, FRED 

PAYNE, ROBERT WALL, WM. B. 

PAYNE, CLAY WALL, LEWIS 

PATTERSON, JAMES WILLETT, RICHARD 

PATTERSON. SAMUEL WORD, DAVID 

QUARLES, GEORGE W. WALLER, ROBERT M. 

QUARLES, JOHN T. WATHEN, EX. 

ROBERTS, HILLARY WATHEN, JAMES 

RINEY, BEN J. YOUNG, ROGER 

RHODES, GEORGE YOUNG, JOSEPH 0. 

REED, FRANK YOUNG, HAL. P. 

Officers ^ 

Men -^ 

Total 1*7 

This company was recruited in September and in the 
last days of that month met at Sulphur Springs, Union 
County, Kentucky, organized by electing officers and pro- 
ceeded under the leadership of Captain J. J. Barnett, to 
Princeton, Ky., thence to Bowling Green, arriving there 
about the middle of October. The company united in the 
organization of the First Kentucky Regiment of Cavalry 



322 REMINISCENCES 

under eommaud of Tolonel Ben Hardin Helm and was a 
part of the force commanded by (xeneral S. B. Buckner, 
and afterwards transferred to General John C. Brecken- 
ridge. 

On the evacuation of Kentucky the regiment was tem- 
porarily assigned to the command of General Thomas N. 
Hindman and during the spring of 1862 did outpost duty 
on the right wing of the army of the Tennessee, stationed 
in North Alabama and engaged in numerous skirmishes 
in Alabama and Tennessee. 

In May, 1862, the*regiment was transferred to the 
cavalry brigade commanded by Colonel J. C. Adams, 
crossed the Tennessee river at Lambs' ferry and engaged 
in many skirmishes in Middle and East Tennessee. 

In June, 1862, General N. B. Forest assumed com- 
mand of this force and by his orders the three year men 
were formed into a squadron and separated from the rest 
of the command and became his escort. They took part 
in all the fights and skirmishes with Forest in Middle Ten- 
nessee and Kentucky and at the battle of Perryville were 
again attached to the regiment and assigned to General 
AVheeler's command. 

On returning to East Tennessee all the regiment ex- 
cept the three year men were mustered out of service and 
the three year men consolidated into two companies — 
Cos. F and D, uniting — at Clinton, Tenn. The squadron 
was marched to ( 'hattanooga for winter quarters and at- 
tached to the Third Kentucky Battalion, thus forming a 
regiment known as the ''new" First Kentucky and Com- 
pany F of the old became Company G of the new regiment, 
which was assigned to General J. H. Wharton's brigade, 
but soon detached and assigned to picket duty for General 
Bragg's army, in which service it was engaged in daily 



BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 323 

skirmishes \i]) to the battle of ('hi(kainaii<;a, where with 
Forest's brigade it occupied a i)art of the line at Lee and 
Gordon's mills, fighting as infantry until in the last grand 
charge on the second day the enemy was routed, when it 
mounted and pursued till nightfall, capturing many pris- 
oners and a large amount of ai-niy supplies. 

This regiment occupied the right of Bragg's line at 
Missionary Ridge and covered his retreat back to Ring- 
gold. All the Kentucky cavalry were united in one brig- 
ade in the winter of 1863-64 and sent to Talladega Val- 
ley, Ala., to rest and recruit, returning in March, 1864, to 
the front at Tunnel Hill, Ga., where on the 7th day of May, 
the First Kentucky occupied the outpost and opened the 
Dal ton- Atlanta campaign, occupied a place on this front 
line in all the battles and skirmishes in that memorable 
contest, besides annoying (General Sherman by raiding 
and destroying his supply trains in his rear. 

Left by General Hood to watr-h Sherman, the brigade 
fought him day and night from Atlanta to Savannah, and 
from there across the Carolina's to Bentonville, where 
General Joe Johnston gave him battle and checked his 
march. After the surrender of (General Lee this bri- 
gade was chosen to escort President Davis and his cabinet 
across the Mississippi river, and had proceeded to Wash- 
ington, Ga., when the news of Johnston's capitulation 
overtook the command and it being included in the sur- 
render, Mr. Davis left it and the officers and men were 
paroled on the 9th day of Mav, 1865, at NA'ashington, (ia. 



